


Will You Bury Me Within

by vagrantBreath



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brainwashing, Insecurity, Lance and Keith bond over being not completely human, Underage Drinking, except he doesn't know it, identity crisis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-04-02
Packaged: 2018-10-05 09:04:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 21,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10303073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vagrantBreath/pseuds/vagrantBreath
Summary: The stars always called to Lance. He just... never understood why.





	1. Chapter 1

So. Keith was Galra. Somehow, it was one of those things that just... made sense.

Lance closed his eyes, music filtering into his ears. It just made sense that Keith ended up being an alien. Like, wasn’t that his dream or something? He huffed out a short laugh. It would be, wouldn’t it. He’d be totally in love with the fact he was an alien.

Or maybe that he just had... family. Lance rolled over, trying not to think of that. Trying not to think about his own family, back on Earth, and what they would be thinking. What they would have been told after he left in Blue. Did they even think he was still alive?

His heart seized up at the thought of his mother hearing he was MIA, thinking he was dead... Lance took a deep breath, curling up slightly. He needed to go home. He needed to see his family again. Hear her speak again, liquid Spanish against his ear as she hugged him tightly-

Lance reached over, turning his music up higher. Nope. Time to drown out those thoughts. Make his teeth vibrate with this music.

It didn’t stop his thoughts, though. Didn’t stop the circling thought about how he missed his family, how he needed to go _home-_

Okay. Maybe if he went and bugged Hunk he’d feel better. If anything, he just _knew_ that Hunk also missed his family. They could talk about that and maybe Lance would feel a little better, hearing he wasn’t alone. Yeah. And Hunk should be in the kitchen. Poor guy was nervously baking after all that, and probably wouldn’t get much sleep. Maybe if he talked to Hunk, he would also calm him down enough so he could get some sleep. Dude needed to rest.

So Lance pulled off the headphone and started down to the kitchen, ready to talk to Hunk and gently remind him to go to bed. He could do at least that.

As he reached the kitchen, he frowned. That wasn’t Hunk he heard. Hunk would be muttering to himself. No, that was just... someone absently munching on something. Probably leftovers from Hunk’s baking, which meant he had actually gone to bed. Which meant someone else was in there.

Lance hoped it was Pidge. That would be preferable. Like, he could deal with Shiro, and Allura would be great, but Pidge he would just kind of... be able to get out of with just getting food, nodding at her, and leaving. Coran would want to talk, and Keith-

He didn’t know what he would do if it was Keith.

Which mean it was Keith, he just knew it.

When he entered the kitchen and it was Keith, he just felt sad. He hated being right like this.

It wasn’t really he... actually, he didn’t know where he was going with that. He just didn’t know what he was going to say to Keith now. ‘Hey, so you’re Galra now, what’s that like?’ That was just lame. He wasn’t just Galra; he was always Galra. And he would be kind of sensitive about that. Lance didn’t want to piss Keith off about that.

So he just really... didn’t want to piss Keith off. It was kind of one of those things. What if _Lance_ just found out he was Galra? He would be totally upset! So he wanted to not bring that up. But what would he say?

He needed to say something because staring at Keith, who had one of Hunk’s muffins in his mouth, was starting to get awkward.

”So... uh... Hunk’s muffins. Amazing what he can do with alien ingredients, right?”

Keith swallowed his mouthful. “Uh. Yeah.”

Awkward.

”So uh...”

”You can mention the Galra thing,” Keith snapped. “I know. I’m Galra. Don’t dance around the subject.”

”Oh!” Lance laughed, rubbing the back of his head. “I just... yeah. Thought you didn’t want to talk about that.”

Keith sighed. “Yeah, well, it pisses me off more than you’re trying not to acknowledge it. Go ahead. Ask me all the Galra questions you want to.”

Now that Keith said it, Lance’s mind went blank. He didn’t think of anything to say. Lance shrugged helplessly. “I don’t really have anything to say, dude. Like, you’re Galra. That’s cool. I don’t even know what the hell to say. Just... you’re Galra.”

Keith relaxed at the words, smiling a little. “You’re the first person not to have questions about it. Thank you.” He took another bite of muffin, closing his eyes slightly.

”Hey, even at the end of the day, we’re still Paladins. No matter what, I still got your back.”

That earned him another smile. “Yeah.”

Lance cautiously smiled back. It was pretty weird being this nice to Keith. Yeah, he could get along with him, but this... this was weird. “Yeah,” he echoed. “So uh... there still muffins left?”

Keith reached behind him, throwing one to him. Lance caught it, crowing in delight. He bit in, happy. Hunk really did make the best pastries.

”Hey.” Keith’s voice made Lance slow in his eating. “So if you found out you were an alien, secretly... what would you do?”

Lance swallowed. “Like if I was part Galra? Well, I’d want to find out more about myself. I’d be asking the Blade of Marmora guys about as much as possible.” But he was totally human, so it was kind of a moot point. “What are you going to do?”

Keith took a moment, thinking. “I... don’t really know. I mean, I could... do what you said. I kind of also want to know who my mother was. Who she... what she did.”

Lance nodded. “Yeah. And I mean, you might have more Galra family out there! Totally would be looking as well.”

”Hm.” Keith looked down at his mostly eaten muffin. “That sounds... yeah. I guess I’d do that.”

”You totally should! I mean, there’s probably a sweet Galra mother out there wondering where her little boy is. She’d probably love meeting you. And you’d get to know more about your family! I totally would be asking the Blade of Marmora guys about the Galra and who your mom could be.”

Keith nodded and looked up at Lance. “You’re right.”

Lance preened. He liked being told that.

”I hope you get to go home soon. Get to see your family.”

Aaaaand there it was. Lance wilted slightly. “Yeah. Me too.”

Keith fell silent. “Hey. I didn’t mean-”

”I know.” Lance smiled at him. “Hey, you gonna finish that?”

”Don’t try to deflect this,” Keith snapped at him. “I know you miss home too.”

Lance shrugged. “It’s okay.”

”It’s not!” Keith stood, his eyes burning. “We all miss home, okay? I miss being in the Garrison at times. And I miss the desert. I miss _Earth_. Me being Galra doesn’t mean I don’t miss being _home._ So you saying ‘it’s okay’ that you miss your own _home_ just-” He gestured, helplessly. “We all miss home! It’s not okay to miss home!”

”Yeah, but we’re far away,” Lance said quietly. “So we’re not going home any time soon.”

”You can still miss home!”

This was why he didn’t want to talk to Shiro. He knew Shiro would have this exact kind of insight that would make him want to curl up. “It’s going to have to be okay. You know that, right? I mean, like, you know we have to do this.”

Keith fell silent. “Yeah,” he finally said. “I do.”

Lance sighed, and took another bite of muffin. “It’ll have to be okay,” he said after he swallowed. “I’m okay with this. Really.”

After a moment, Keith sighed. “Yeah. I guess so.” He started out of the kitchen, having finished his muffin. “Thanks for not asking me about the Galra thing.”

”No problem.” He wouldn’t want anyone talking to him about the alien thing if he turned out not human anyway. “See ya later.”

But when Keith left, Lance sighed. He didn’t want to think about how much he missed home. But... if they beat Zarkon, he would go home. He’d see his mother again. See everyone again. They just needed to beat Zarkon and everything would be okay again.

Yeah.

Just beat Zarkon.


	2. Chapter 2

What had Altea been like? Lance watched Allura and Coran talk, feeling a little sad that he couldn’t have seen this planet with them. Allura would have been the most beautiful guide. He kind of... missed what he never saw, hearing them talk. It sounded like a great place. Though, Lance thought sourly, rubbing his ears, he would have been considered ugly. He remembered Allura telling him his ears were hideous.

It really stung more than he thought it would. Yeah, he really... wasn’t any great _beauty_ , but telling him his ears were ugly kind of hurt. They were just... ears.

He rubbed them again, fingers gently sliding over the shell.

Why did he worry about this kind of thing so much? It wasn’t like it would ever impact him at all. Altea was gone, and they were with the only two Alteans left in existence. And once they found Shiro, he’d go back to Earth. Zarkon was gone, after all. Everything would be fine. They just needed to find Shiro.

Thing was, he just couldn’t get Allura’s words out of his head lately. And she seemed to be hiding something. Or at least talking only with Coran about something only for Alteans. Which he wanted to know about. It wasn’t fair that only the Alteans knew about this. But he really didn’t know how to go about saying this because, well... what if it was something special to Allura? Something that only Alteans would find important? He’d feel like an asshole.

Lance watched Allura nod to Coran, her face stern as she turned to the rest of the group. “Paladins,” she announced. “It appears our enemy is not what they seem.”

What?

Keith lifted his head, the grief of losing Shiro still plain on his face. “What do you mean?”

”Yeah,” Pidge chimed in. “Is this like how not all Galra are our enemy thing?”

Allura nodded, frowning slightly. “It’s quite a bit more disturbing than that. It appears Coran and I are not the last Alteans.”

Hey, whoa, what?

”Zarkon had an Altean woman working for him,” Allura continued, staring at all of them in turn. “She is a powerful druid. We will have to remain vigilant as to her next actions. It’s very possible she may have been forced into his service, but if she had not, she would be in a very strong position of power.”

”So you’re telling us even though Zarkon’s gone, we still might have to fight?” Hunk moaned. “Ah man!”

”You should have warned us earlier there might have been people who could take over after Zarkon,” Keith snapped at her. “We wouldn’t have made all those plans.”

”I had thought we could end it at Zarkon too,” Allura told him. “It appears I was wrong.”

Keith looked away.

Lance got where Keith and Hunk were coming from but... he couldn’t help but just feel excited that there were more Alteans out there. And he didn’t know why. Could that mean there were like a whole colony of them somewhere, hiding away from Zarkon? And now they could free them from hiding now that Zarkon was dead? That would be cool! Doing so much for the universe, yeah!

And he just wanted to meet more Alteans.

If he had to be away from home any longer, then meeting more Alteans had to be worth it, right?

  


* * *

  


The thing Lance always had in the back of his head was he wanted to _go_. He wanted to see something. Meet something. Something was out there, waiting for him. Maybe not as strong as Keith’s alien drive, but he knew something was out there.

He just... kind of assumed everyone else felt the same. It was Voltron, right? They were all being drawn to Voltron.

Yeah, it was exciting to possibly meet more Alteans, but he was where he belonged, right?

Lance washed his night mask off, sighing. It had been such a stroke of luck that he had found something that had worked so well with his skin in the castle. A part of him hoped he was using everything right, but so far, it was doing what he hoped it was. Night creams were working right, maybe even better than on Earth. He knew for a fact the moisturizer he used here was leagues better. And he hadn’t had a single breakout, so he was pretty certain the cleanser was doing its job better than anything he had tried back on Earth. He’d have to take some of this home. Even the most mild cleansers on Earth would irritate his skin to some degree.

Come to think of it, Altean beauty _everything_ was better. His hair looked so good. His skin was in the best shape it had ever been in. Lance sighed, patting his skin dry. The Alteans definitely knew what was up. And none of the others would use anything other than the soap! Okay, so Keith complained it made him itchy. Fair enough; he was Galra. But the others would like at least some lotion! He knew Pidge complained of dry hands sometimes.

Lance stood there for a moment, a sad thought occurring to him. Keith complained even the soap made him itchy. What would something like lotion do to him? Would he break out in hives? Was he allergic to Altean products? Man, he didn’t know what he would do if he was allergic to the things he was living with. Maybe they could talk to the Blade of Marmora guys again and get some Galra stuff for Keith. Get some Galra soap or something. That would make it so he could at least take a shower without wanting to crawl out of his skin.

It sucked to be an alien, Lance decided. Even though he was the alien here, but whatever. It sucked to be Keith. Finding out he was the enemy and then losing Shiro... and on top of that, he was probably allergic to even the soap on the castle, so he’d be allergic to just about every other product Lance used. Probably. Maybe. Poor guy.

Good thing he was human.

Lance found his night cream and proceeded to apply it to his face, inhaling the light fragrance happily. It smelled so nice. Strange, but nice. With his skin properly moisturized for night, he started to get ready for night, curling up in bed.

Maybe they’d find Alteans while they looked for Shiro.

He’d have to look extra good when he found them.


	3. Chapter 3

Hunk was acting waaaay sketchy today. While that would worry Lance from someone else, from Hunk, that just made him excited. He knew what that meant, and he was certain everyone else did too.

A new food thing had been found, and Hunk didn’t want Allura and Coran to know they knew. Possibly because it might be alcoholic. They hadn’t been so careful last time, and Coran confiscated from them when they started to get drunk. But in Lance’s eyes, if they were going to be defenders of the universe, they deserved a drink or two. Right?

Yeah.

Lance looked over to Pidge, who grinned back. She guessed it too. Hunk had to be hiding something good. His glance turned over to Keith, who was trying not to keep his eyes on Allura. Trying not to be obvious in tracking her movements as she left. He mostly succeeded, Lance decided when Allura left and Keith turned to Hunk. Allura hadn’t suspected a thing.

”Spill,” Keith commanded, eyes bright.

”Shh, not now,” Hunk whispered, waving his hands. “Meet me in my room when we go to bed.”

Oooh, so it was alcoholic.

Lance _liked_ this idea already.

Pidge perked up. “Can do,” she whispered back. Then, in a normal voice, “I’m going to go study.”

Keith nodded. “I should go train too.” A haunted look crossed his face, remembering something, then he shook his head, dispelling the look.

”Yo.” Lance tapped Keith’s shoulder with the back of his hand. “I’ll go with you. I need to get some aiming practice in anyway. Just let me get changed first.”

”Sure thing. I’ll meet you down there.” Keith didn’t smile, but he tapped Lance’s shoulder back as he got up. Which was a definite improvement over how they had first got along. It was like Keith being Galra had opened up a lot of doors between them and now things were...

Tolerable?

Yeah, that was the word.

Things were tolerable between them.

He had to at least get along with the guy. Keith was doing the awkward ‘leading in Shiro’s place’ thing, and Lance didn’t want to be the one to break the team apart. Sometimes it kind of got on his nerves that _Keith_ was ordering him around, but he wasn’t going to break apart Voltron just for the sake of his ego!

It kind of hit him at one time he would have done exactly that. He would have gotten in Keith’s face and ripped the team apart just because he couldn’t fathom taking a few orders from Keith. And then all this happened, and Shiro disappeared... and they were still needed. The Galra empire didn’t just dissolve.

It wasn’t fair, Lance suddenly decided. He wanted to go _home._ See his family again. Being told his job wasn’t over yet- it wasn’t _fair._

But whatever, he was still in space. Lance sighed and headed to the training room. He needed to train with Keith.

With hope, he wouldn’t be spending most of his time with his nose on the floor because Keith wasn’t watching his back.

  


* * *

  


Lance settled down on the floor of Hunk’s room, nearly vibrating out of his skin. What did Hunk find? How alcoholic was it? Was it tasty?

... why were his priorities in that order?

With a grin, Hunk whipped out a bottle. The red liquid inside shone like rubies, almost dazzling in the light. Pidge produced four glasses, and the two of them poured the liquid out, passing it around. When Lance gave it a curious sniff, he winced. Oh yeah. That smelled alcoholic. Almost burned his nose. But it smelled good. Kind of like grapes. “Well, down the hatch!” Lance announced, taking a gulp.

Holy _crow_ it burned on the way down. The rest of them laughed at him as his eyes watered and he coughed. “Don’t do that,” he managed to get out.

”I’ll be sure not to,” Keith chuckled, taking a sip. He blinked, looking down at the liquid. “This is really good.”

Pidge took a sip, then wrinkled up her nose. “Mm, too sweet for me.”

Hunk took his own sip, and nodded. “Me too. Like... actually, it doesn’t taste like anything on Earth. It’s just too sweet for what it is.”

”Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Lance announced, taking another sip. “Keith’s right. This stuff is good.”

”Then you two can have it.” Hunk held out the bottle. “So! What do you guys want to talk about?” he asked as Keith took it.

”What was Coran’s training today?” Pidge asked, lifting a disbelieving eyebrow as she leaned back. “That couldn’t actually be a thing. He had to have just made that up to torture us.”

”If that was true, it worked,” Lance commented. Man, this stuff was good. Now that he was a little more used to the burn, he took a larger drink. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Keith doing the same, matching him sip for sip. Oh ho.

”We nearly died!” Hunk’s eyes went wide. “That was a lot worse than torturing us!”

”But we didn’t die,” Keith pointed out. When he took another drink, so did Lance. Two could play at that game. “We’re still here, and we’re okay.”

”Speak for yourself. I have a nasty bruise on my leg because of that.” Lance rubbed his thigh. The bruise was nearly the size of his hand.

”You saw my back after that, right?” Pidge scoffed. “All I have to say is thank God for armor.”

”Amen,” Lance murmured, raising his drink and taking a sip.

He could see Keith doing the same.

Keith had to be feeling _good_ right about now. Lance was. This stuff was definitely alcoholic. Really alcoholic. Maybe he should let up on it because a buzz like this shouldn’t hit him this fast. But no, Keith was taking another sip so he had to as well. Because he couldn’t let Keith show him up, no way.

Hunk was looking between the two of them, worried. “Hey guys, maybe you two should-”

”It’s okay,” Keith told him, his voice still steady. “It’s only mildly alcoholic. I’m feeling something, but it’s not that bad. We’d probably have to finish the entire bottle to even get drunk.”

Lance stared at him. Was he just a cheap drunk then? He’d never gotten drunk this fast off anything else, though...

”As long as you guys will be okay,” Hunk said before Lance stood, swaying.

”Hey, maybe I should go to my room,” he announced, being careful not to slur anything. If Keith wasn’t drunk, he had to not be too. He couldn’t be a cheap drunk. That just had the wrong impression. “I’m not feeling good.”

”Do you want me to-” Hunk started before Lance shook his head a little.

And regretted it. The room spun at that. “Nah. I can make it back. I’ll be fine.” He grinned. “See you guys tomorrow.”

Lance left as quickly as he could, feeling himself sway as he did. How had he gotten so _drunk_ so fast? Was Keith okay because he was Galra? He shouldn’t have pitted himself against Keith when it came to something like that. But Hunk and Pidge weren’t drinking.

He hadn’t gotten drunk so fast off the last stuff they had found, though. Whatever it was... like some drink Coran said had come from this race called the Migka. It had all hit them the same. So what was different about this stuff?

Whatever. Lance just hoped he didn’t puke.

  


* * *

  


He needed _water_.

Lance never wanted to know what a hangover was again. Ever.

And Coran was staring at them all, curling his mustache between his fingers as he hummed in thought. Ugh. He had to know just by the fact Lance was hungover. Keith, of course, looked perfect because his Galra blood made it so he didn’t get drunk off the stuff. And Hunk and Pidge never touched the stuff past the first drink.

”I don’t suppose any of you know where the bottle of pynon that was in our cellars ran off to, do you?” Coran finally asked. “I was doing inventory and the bottle was missing.”

Everyone shrugged.

”I see. Well, I do hope none of your drank it. Our Galra Paladin here would be fine, as pynon is considered a mild alcohol to the Galra, but at least to Alteans, it’s almost toxic! We wouldn’t be able to process the type of alcohol fast enough. I shudder to think how humans would process it.”

”Why did you still have a bottle on board?” Keith asked, curious.

”Ah...” Coran looked sad. “We weren’t always at war with the Galra, and there were a few times we would entertain Galra diplomats. Pynon was a favorite drink of theirs.”

Everyone went quiet at that.

It was probably a good thing Hunk and Pidge hadn’t drank much of it, Lance decided as his stomach rolled again, nauseous. Sounded like only Keith would be okay drinking it.

But right now, now that Coran left, he had to puke again.


	4. Chapter 4

Lance looked over at Keith, seeing his jaw set as Allura told them she had found a small group of rebel Alteans. Excitement filled Lance, but he knew Keith couldn’t be feeling as happy. The Galra had nearly wiped out their entire race to the point Allura and Coran thought they were the last ones. And it was possible this little group was the last group of Alteans left. They wouldn’t be happy to see Keith.

But Keith didn’t say anything. He just let Allura talk, nodding after she was done. “We’ll make contact with them once we arrive,” he told her.

”I would rather you didn’t,” Allura told him. “Or instead, I would rather you send another in your place.” She didn’t need to say why. They knew why.

”Lance.”

Hey, whoa, what? Lance blinked, looking over at Keith. What?

Keith nodded at him. “You’re good with people, Lance. I think you should go with Allura to make contact with them.”

Whoa. Keith trusted him and thought he’d be the best choice to go meet the Alteans. Lance blinked. “Who are you and what have you done with Keith?”

A sour look crossed Keith’s face. “I’m just thinking about what’s best for the team. I’m Galra, so I shouldn’t go. Hunk has too much anxiety, and Pidge is too socially awkward. You’re the best person to go.”

Wow, Keith was thinking like a leader. Lance blinked. He knew that Keith could lead them in battle, but this was beyond that. This was thinking like... Shiro, almost.

”Yeah.” Lance nodded. “I can do that.”

Allura turned to Lance. “We shall be arriving in the next few quintants.”

”Sure. I’ll be ready.” Lance smiled at her, resisting the urge to make finger guns at her. Allura was still hot as hell, but there was a time and place for flirting and right now wasn’t it. He must have decided to do the right thing because Allura just nodded at him.

When the meeting ended, Lance turned to Keith. “You sounded a lot like a leader,” he told him. “You’re doing good, man.”

Keith sighed, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, a sad look had settled on his face. “Yeah.”

Lance reached out, shaking his shoulder. “You’re doing great, dude. Shiro’s going to be proud of you when he gets back.”

”Yeah.” Keith didn’t look any happier.

”Hey.” Lance shaked his shoulder again. “We’ll see him again. I promise. Okay?”

Inhaling deeply, Keith nodded. “Yeah.”

That was better. Lance grinned at him. “Yeah.”

  


* * *

  


One thing that Lance was always proud about was his under eye area was always so smooth and soft. He’d use eye cream on it, of course. No wrinkles here! But it always felt like he had just put cream on. It just felt so nice.

He finished smoothing his night eye cream on, and looked in the mirror. Was that a pimple? No, he couldn’t be breaking out. He was so close to meeting more Alteans! What would they think if he showed up and he was broken out, his skin a horrible hormonal mess? No, he had to make sure to take care of that right now.

Lance looked around. Tea tree, tea tree... oh right, that didn’t exist out here. What was close to that? There had to be something that could be used to zap pimples. But he just... didn’t know what it was. Maybe he could ask Allura? Lance looked back at the mirror, clicking his tongue at what he saw.

He needed to get rid of that zit.

Lance’s hand knocked a bottle as he turned to leave, and he looked down at it. Which one was this again? He opened it, sniffing. Something he’d never used before... it didn’t quite seem like anything else. It was kind of... like a clear thick gel. Maybe that was something he could use in this case? Couldn’t hurt. Lance squirted a little of it onto his fingers and patted it onto the blemish.

The gel cooled his skin instantly. It didn’t quite... dry it out like he was used to. Maybe that was a good thing? He hoped so. He hated it when anti-blemish products dried out his skin. Well, he’d see what it’d do tomorrow.

Lance sighed. He’d have to keep his hands off his face after this. If he wanted to keep good, clear skin, he needed to keep up with his regimine and not touch his face. Normally he was good about the not touching his face, but there was just something about... having a zit that made him want to poke at it.

No. He wanted to leave it alone. Let it be.

Time to move on to the rest of his skincare. Lance carefully moisturized his face, staring at his face some more. Other than that one zit, he looked pretty good, if he must say so. He turned his head one way, then the other. Really, he was kind of surprised just how _good_ he looked. Like, his skin had this really rich color to it now. It had a really nice healthy glow to it. His lips looked really, really good.

Why hadn’t he looked this good back on Earth? It would have been nice. Might have gotten a few girlfriends.

Lance reached up, tracing the shell of his ear. Not like he was going to get any here. He might look good to _his_ eyes, but it was pretty obvious to anyone else he didn’t look that good. How many of the hot aliens that he had flirted with had done so because he amused them? Not because he had charmed them, or because he was attractive, but because they found him a funny diversion?

More than he wanted, probably.

He turned away from the mirror. Enough of that.

Without thinking, his fingers reached up to touch the soft under eye area. He stroked it as he started to his bed, fingers mapping out where it laid.

He stopped when he sat on his bed, a thought occurring to him.

It was where Allura and Coran’s eye markings were on them.


	5. Chapter 5

”We’ll be there tomorrow.” Hunk’s voice filled with wonder as he leaned up against the wall next to Lance. “We’re about to meet more Alteans. You ever think of that, Lance? We thought they were all dead and we’re about to meet more!”

”Yeah!” Lance smiled at him. He was so excited. Alteans! He had wanted to meet more for a while. It would be interesting to talk to them about what had been happening to them since the war started. And maybe there’d be more allies! Or maybe a hint as to where Shiro was!

Lance was very, very excited.

”Do you think they still look like elves?” Hunk looked over at Lance. “Does that weird you out too? That Alteans look like Earth elves?”

Lance shrugged. “I mean, the universe is big enough for stuff like this to happen, right? I bet there’d probably be a race like big dogs with hands for paws or something. It’s not like they’re actually elves. They never actually came to Earth.”

Hunk nodded to that. “But can you image if they did? That would explain why people had myths about elves. They saw Alteans.”

That made Lance laugh. “That would mean there would be Alteans on Earth. I mean, don’t some cultures have myths that elves live in their woods or ice caves or something? And isn’t the pointed ears some kind of fantasy thing anyway?”

”Pointed ears had to come from somewhere, right? And wouldn’t it be cool? Like, it’d explain why Blue was on Earth!”

”Hmm.” Lance almost put his hand to his chin, then remembered the zit on his face and lowered his hand. Nope. Do not touch. “It would be cool, but I don’t think it happened. We’ve pretty much explored the surface of Earth. We’d know if there were Alteans.”

”Yeah.” Hunk went quiet for a moment, then said, “But what if, you know, they could have kids with humans?”

Something about that made Lance go really, really quiet.

”And um... there aren’t any pureblood Alteans left on Earth.”

Lance couldn’t speak.

Hunk didn’t say anything else, but deflated slightly. “Yeah. That was stupid. Sorry.”

”No.” Lance shook himself, smiling. “Sorry. I was just thinking about that. And that would be kind of interesting.”

Hunk nodded. “But it’s probably not true. I mean, it’s weird enough that Keith’s Galra. It’d be weirder still if there was another race that could make babies with humans.”

Lance laughed. “Yeah, you’re right about that.”

As Hunk left, his fingers came up, tracing the soft skin under his eye. The lines bracketing his eye right where Allura and Coran’s markings were. Everyone had to have something like that. His family had them. It was just something... right? It was normal.

He was just overthinking things. Alteans hadn’t ever made their ways to Earth.

But then, why had Blue been on Earth?

Lance didn’t notice when Keith came up to him until he stood in front of him. “Hey.”

”Huh?” Lance looked up suddenly, blinking as he lowered his hand. “What’s up?”

”You look kind of...” Keith shrugged. “I don’t know. Like you’re thinking about something you don’t want to think about.”

”Oh.” Lance bit his lower lip. “Just thinking about... hey, when you found out you’re Galra, did it seem like things just fit into place?”

Keith’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

”Like... when you found out, did some things that you did or that happened to you make more sense?”

”Well, I guess the soap thing made more sense. Why do you want to know?”

Lance shrugged. “I don’t know. Small talk?”

Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Yeah. Okay. You want small talk. Well, the soap thing made more sense. I mean, if I was fully Galra I bet I’d be really allergic to it, but it made a lot more sense when I realized that my mild allergy came from the fact I was part alien. I kind of have really sharp nails. I mean, sharper than most of the other kids at the orphanage. Didn’t really think about it before. Made more sense when I found out I was Galra.”

Lance swallowed around a knot in his throat, thinking of the soft skin under his eyes.

”Did that answer your question?”

He nodded silently.

Keith leaned forward, taking his shoulder. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

”Nothing.” Lance smiled. “You know, we don’t really ever ask how this affected _you_ as... you know, you. Like, how you’re doing about learning you’re Galra. If you’re okay or anything like that.”

”What-”

”And also,” Lance continued, ignoring Keith, “we don’t really think much about what you’re going through having to be a leader. So you know, we should talk about that!”

Keith rubbed his head.

”And you-”

”Are you nervous about meeting more Alteans?” Keith demanded. “Because you’re being dumber than usual.”

Lance stopped, swallowing.

”You haven’t asked about the Galra thing at all until right now. And you haven’t even tried to bring up talking to me about being a leader until now. So what the hell is wrong? You know Alteans. We live with two of them.”

Lance swallowed again. “It’s not... I mean, I’m really excited to meet more of them. It’s pretty cool.”

”So what’s wrong with you?”

”Nothing.” Lance couldn’t smile after that. “Hunk just said some things.”

”You and Hunk don’t usually fight.”

”We’re not fighting!” Lance’s eyes went wide. “Oh hell no, we’re not fighting. He just... kind of mentioned that pointy eared elves were a thing on Earth and if Alteans made it to Earth, there might not be any pureblooded ones left.”

”I don’t get it.” Keith frowned. “What’s getting you about that?”

Lance took a deep breath. “Hunk and Pidge don’t say Altean soap and moisturizer and the such do better on them than Earth stuff. It does for me.”

Keith didn’t stop frowning, still confused.

Man, it just sounded stupid aloud. “Yeah, nevermind. It sounds stupid.”

”Well, okay.” Keith took a step back. “If you need to talk, um... I guess I’ll listen. Though Hunk would do better.”

”Yeah.” Lance wrinkled his nose at him, teasing him. “You suck at this.”

Keith scowled at him, pushing him lightly as he laughed.

Yeah. He was being dumb. Alteans had never made it to Earth. And things worked differently for everyone else. Something that worked for him didn’t work for his sisters. Lance grinned as Keith left, and took a deep breath. Everything was okay.

And they were going to meet Alteans!

This was going to be awesome.


	6. Chapter 6

The Alteans were really, really cool.

Lance didn’t know why he was there, though. Allura did all the talking. He was there... to be the face of the Paladins, he guessed. So he really didn’t know why he was there. Damn it. He really wished Shiro was there now. He’d know what to say to them. How to be the perfect Paladin. All Lance knew how to do was stand there awkwardly and grin at the pretty ones. Who didn’t smile back at him.

Which might be because they didn’t find him attractive, or because this was supposed to be an official meeting where no one flirted, damn it.

Really, he had no idea.

Maybe he could talk to some of the younger ones when Allura was done. He didn’t know what about, but it could be about something. Make friends with them. Something. He didn’t know.

They didn’t quite look like Allura and Coran anymore, he thought as he watched the rather pretty woman talk to Allura. Their eye markings had all but disappeared. They still had pointed ears, though. And they were still gorgeous. Lance just... thought it was really unfair just how gorgeous all Alteans were.

Lance rubbed the shell of his ear, frowning.

”Paladin, are you well?” A lovely young Altean girl leaned forward, looking into his face. “You look...”

”I’m okay.” Lance smiled at her, winking. “How you doing?”

The girl frowned, her pretty face confused. “I am... well. But I worry about you. You look upset.”

Lance shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

The girl stared at him for a moment, then her face brightened. “While Basq is talking to the Princess, perhaps I can show you something nice! Come with me.”

A part of him told him not to do this. To say no, and to stay with Allura. He had been dumb before and been caught by a pretty face. Nyma, for crying out loud! Something bigger than that told him that he needed to go with her. That this was very, very important.

”Yeah, why not?” Lance grinned at her. “Let’s go.”

It was stupid. It was so stupid. He didn’t know any of these Alteans. They could be wanting to hurt him.

But it was important. This was important.

  


* * *

  


Oh God this was dumb.

He wasn’t a dress up doll.

Lance didn’t mind wearing a little makeup. His sisters had tested looks out on him before. He looked dashing with a smoky eye. But this was far beyond just a little makeup. This was even beyond trying on a few cute dresses.

This was being treated like a goddamn doll.

Lance did not appreciate that.

”And now...” The girl pulled out a pot and a brush. “We only do this for special occasions, but I want to know what you’d look like. Let’s see, tilt your head...”

Was it eyeliner? He already had a cat eye going on. Lance suppressed a sigh and tilted his head back, watching her dip the brush into the pot. She started to paint lines under his eye, right where the soft skin was...

Lance swallowed. “What are you doing?”

”I want to see how you’d look with traditional Altean markings!” She paused, biting her lip. “This is the only way we can see these markings now. We’ve had children with so many different races that it’s almost been erased from our skin. And so whenever we have special occasions, the elders will paint themselves up as their ancestors. There!” She smiled, lowering the brush. “They look very good on you.”

Lance didn’t want to look in the mirror. Everything else, he had looked. He had seen how pretty the makeup looked and twisted and twirled in the dresses she put him in. But this? He didn’t want to see it. He just didn’t... want to see himself with those markings.

He didn’t...

Slowly, Lance looked up into the mirror.

They looked kind of weird on him. Almost out of place. Really, really purple. Maybe if they were blue...

Lance swallowed.

”I’d like to go back now,” he whispered.

  


* * *

  


It took him a while to scrub the ink off his cheeks. The rest of the makeup came off easily with what he thought was makeup remover.

The ink on his cheeks didn’t.

He stared at the mirror, seeing the purple markings on his cheeks. He almost looked... if he had the pointed ears... Altean.

Alteans never came to Earth. He wasn’t Altean. He was human. His family was from Cuba.

Lance continued to scrub the ink off his cheeks, his hands shaking more and more. He wasn’t Altean. He wasn’t Altean.

Alteans never came to Earth.

But why was Blue on Earth?

And where did the ‘pointed ear’ part of elves come from?

Lance swallowed, trying not to scream.

Was this how Keith had felt when he had thought he might be Galra? Trying to figure out what was going on and then being bombarded with all this... weird information? Weird stuff? But he had a knife from his mom that was obviously alien. And he had a lot of obvious alien stuff about him. His fingernails. He...

He wasn’t Altean. He couldn’t be.

There was no way he was Altean.

Lance swallowed harder.

He wasn’t Altean.

He was a good boy from Cuba. That was all. He had a family. They were from Cuba too.

But did he know where his grandmother came from...? He hadn’t known her, she had died about ten years before he was born... and her side of the family, did he know anything about them? Where they were from? Were they from Cuba?

No. He was from Cuba. His family was from Cuba.

Lance swallowed as the last of the ink came off.

There were no elves, space or otherwise, in his family line. He wasn’t Keith. He wasn’t an alien.

Lance closed his eyes.

He was human.

He had to be.


	7. Chapter 7

Growing up, Lance had always felt drawn to flying. To the stars.

He looked over at Allura as she said goodbye to the Alteans, a new alliance forged, and tried to forget about how the purple marks looked on his cheeks. They had looked right, that they were supposed to be there, but wrong in the wrong color- no, he wasn’t thinking of it!

Was this how Keith had felt? Lance wondered as he went back to the castle. Seeing something off like that and just... But it was different for him. It turned out to be true.

And he turned out to be Galra, a part of him whispered. The enemy. Lance could be Altean. Allura and Coran were Altean. They were good guys. No matter what, Lance would be a good guy.

Lance swallowed.

He couldn’t be an alien. His family was from Cuba.

He couldn’t be having an _identity crisis_ out in _space_! That was the worst thing he could have right now! He was in space, for one. And there was the whole fact there were Galra and Shiro was missing. So much going on, and he didn’t have time to worry about if he wasn’t actually a simple human boy from Cuba. He just... didn’t have the time.

He didn’t...

Lance slowed his steps behind Allura, a wave of sadness overtaking him. He didn’t have time to be a kid anymore. All those times he had said he wasn’t a kid, and now he was looking at this war and realizing... he wanted to go back to being a simple human boy from Cuba. Being a kid.

But he wasn’t a kid anymore.

None of them were.

”Lance? Is everything alright?” Allura turned towards him, worried.

”Yeah.” He couldn’t even muster up more than that.

Allura looked him over for a moment, then took a step closer to him. “I also feel something is amiss,” she told him, startling him. “I find it odd that they’ve been able to live as long as they have as close as they have to a Galra colony without being noticed.”

”They’ve had to have kids with a lot of other races,” he pointed out. “And maybe the Galra have forgotten about the whole Altean thing. It’s been ten thousand years.”

”Perhaps...” Allura looked behind them. “I hope you are right.”

He did too.

God, he hoped he was right about a lot of things.

He didn’t know what he was going to do.

  


* * *

  


It hit him after he got dressed in his Earth clothes how he could find out. And it was so easy. Why hadn’t he thought of it before?

”Pidge!” Lance draped an arm over her shoulder. “Yo. I have a favor to ask of you. So you’re learning Altean, right?”

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, lifting an eyebrow as she continued typing on her laptop. “Yes?”

”And you can use just about any of this tech, right?”

”Yes? What do you want?”

”Come on, come with me.” He straightened up, watching as Pidge did not budge. “Oh, come on, Pidge.”

”Just tell me what you want.”

Not in front of the others. Lance glanced up at Keith, swallowing. Not in front of the other alien in the room. “I just need you to look at something.”

”Coran can’t help you?”

”I just really want you to help me, Pidge. Please?”

After a long sigh, she put aside her laptop. “Fine. What is it that you want me to help you with?”

Lance nodded. “This way.” He turned, leading her towards the med bay. There was a distinct feeling she’d still ask why Coran couldn’t help, but... he couldn’t have Coran know. Pidge could keep a secret. She kept her gender a secret. Yeah, the others had known, but Lance guessed they just saw things he didn’t. She didn’t tell anyone until she told everyone. Pidge wouldn’t tell anyone if Lance ended up being Altean until he told them.

And he wasn’t Altean. He couldn’t be.

When they entered the med bay, Lance looked around. What did they actually need? “Um...” Lance laughed a little. “I don’t actually know what I need. I just need someone to do a scan on me.”

Pidge groaned. “Coran could have done this.”

”Yeah, I just... don’t want Coran to know.”

She went quiet, looking up at him. Finally, she said, “I’m not going to ask why you’d need a scan. Just... asking if you’re okay.”

”Huh? Yeah. I’m okay. I just need... to know something.”

”If you’re pregnant, I’m not waking up to feed the kid,” Pidge told him, raising an eyebrow.

Lance laughed at that. “I’ve never even had anything approaching sex, so I wouldn’t be any sort of pregnant.”

Pidge nodded. “Good. We don’t need a kid with all the shit going on here. Okay, I think I can find what you need. And you’d know what the results are too, right? I should get them pretty fast. Translation is what’s going to take me a while. Just stand there and I’ll take care of it.”

He stood there, still, as she scanned him. When Pidge was done, Lance leaned up against the wall, playing with the zipper on his jacket. She took so long to do this. He understood this wasn’t her native language and she was just newly learning it, but... he wanted to know what the answer was.

”Well, I can tell you you’re not pregnant,” she finally said, her voice dry. “And that you’re not lying when you say you’re a virgin. You look pretty healthy, Lance, from what I can tell. Coran could read this better than I could to see if you really are healthy. He has a pretty good idea about how human bodies should work by now.”

”Yeah... did it do a genetic level reading?”

Pidge went quiet again.

”Come on, Pidge.”

”I’m checking,” she said. “... Lance.”

He didn’t like how she said that.

”... do you want me to tell anyone?”

He closed his eyes.

He was supposed to be a simple boy from _Cuba._ He wasn’t supposed to be an Altean Paladin of Voltron.

”I’ll tell them myself,” Lance told her quietly. “Eventually. I just... needed to know.”

Pidge came over to him, rubbing his arm. “Hey. It’s not that bad. And it’s far back enough Coran didn’t notice when you were being healed.”

”Yeah.” Lance swallowed. “Yeah, I guess.”

Pidge continued to rub his arm, and it made him feel a little better. Someone was there. Someone was next to him, supporting him. He’d have people supporting him. Even Keith had people supporting him, and he was Galra. He’d be okay.

Just... he was supposed to be _human_. That’s what he was. Who he was.

And now he... wasn’t.


	8. Chapter 8

So where did Lance start worrying, anyway? With the fact he was Altean, or the fact that Allura was right, and it was really sketchy the Alteans here had been able to live so close to Galra?

If he wanted to be honest with himself, he wanted to start with the fact he was Altean, he reflected as he sat back in his seat, looking at the empty dining room. This changed his entire... everything. How long was he going to live, now? Yeah, people on his grandmother’s side lived a long time, but he never thought of it before. Would he outlive the other humans? Or was he human enough that he’d live as long as they would? Now that they were in space, would there be more stuff like the space booze they found that would be toxic to Alteans? Would it be toxic to him? Lance scrubbed at his face. Had he been really drunk on that stuff, or had he been really close to drinking himself to death because he was dumb?

Would there be anything else like that for him?

The only way he’d be able to tell would be to tell the other Alteans that hey, yeah, so somehow some Alteans made it to Earth and he was descended from them. Lance closed his eyes tightly, trying not to laugh at that. He didn’t even know if Alteans had different races, which would throw everything else into chaos. What if what kind of Altean he was descended from was completely different from the Alteans Allura and Coran were? What if certain foods and drinks affected different races of Alteans differently?

Lance tried not to scream at the thoughts.

He really needed to finish eating, but he just... couldn’t. The only good thing was no one else was around. He could just sit here and just stare at his half full plate, brooding about being Altean.

What was it that he had told Keith, way back when they found out he was Galra? That he would want to find out everything if it came out that he was an alien too? Well, now it came out he was an alien too and all Lance wanted to do was escape from it.

But he couldn’t. This was his life. So he better just... get used to it.

He couldn’t do that. Not so soon.

Lance took a breath, leaning forward to start eating again. He wasn’t going to let this meal go. He was _hungry_! So he was going to eat this.

... maybe he could go talk to Keith? He was the other member of the team that had learned that he wasn’t quite as human as he thought he was. So maybe he could go talk, go bond over... not being human.

Lance snorted at that thought. Yeah, like being Altean was anything like being Galra. Allura and Coran would be excited to know he was one of them. They weren’t like that for Keith.

But Lance... he didn’t... he didn’t want them to be excited for that reason. He didn’t want them to be excited for something he _was_ if it wasn’t attached to something he _did_. Like that, he just... it didn’t feel right.

Lance finished eating and sat back in his seat again, looking at the empty plate. He just... didn’t know what to do. When he heard someone come in, Lance looked up, nodding at Keith as he pumped some food goo for himself. “Didn’t take you for the snacking type,” Lance told him as Keith sat down.

”I’ve always snacked,” Keith said with a hint of defensiveness in his voice.

”Probably because you’re Galra,” Lance murmured.

”Are you still going on about that? Didn’t you get your answers?” Keith glared at him. “And weren’t you not going to ask about the Galra thing?”

Lance winced.

Keith glared at him a little longer. “I don’t know what’s bothering you,” he finally said, relenting slightly. “Whatever it is, it’s making you really stupid and hard to deal with. Out with it. Or I’ll go ask Hunk.”

”Hunk doesn’t know.” Lance looked at Keith’s disbelieving face. “I mean, there’s nothing!”

”Yeah, you’re not getting away with that one.” Keith pointed his spoon at Lance. “Spill.”

”It’s nothing!”

”Lance, I swear to God...”

He shook his head. “It’s...” Lance closed his eyes, sighing. Slowly, he opened them again, keeping them trained on Keith’s food goo.

”Did something happen to you?” Lance was not aware Keith’s voice could actually go that gentle.

”No. I just... found something out.” He sighed again, playing with his own spoon. “I’m not human.” Quickly, he chanced a look up at Keith, seeing the confused look cross his face. “You know how Alteans look like elves? I guess they are. I’m Altean.”

”Hold on.” Keith put down his spoon. “Explain that again.”

”I don’t know if I can!” Lance swallowed down a hysterical laugh. “Or, I don’t know how I can explain it better. I mean, I- Pidge did the scan thing and it said somewhere back in my family line I’m Altean and oh my God I’m not human.” Lance slapped his hands over his mouth, not sure if what was trying to come out was a laugh or a sob.

”Uh.” Lance looked up at Keith, seeing him awkwardly shift in his seat. “I mean... yeah, it’s... it’s hard to believe you’re not human at first. Would you like me to get Hunk?”

”No!” Wow, that came out loud and passionate. “I mean, no. I don’t- I don’t want to-” Lance shook his head. “No.”

”Okay.” Keith coughed, toying with his spoon. “So uh. Pidge knows. Do Allura or Coran know?”

Lance mutely shook his head.

”If you really want to know more, I mean, they’d be the ones to talk to. I’m Galra. I’m like... the opposite of what you want to talk to, really.”

”Yeah, but you’re also human,” Lance told him quietly. “And you also had to find out you’re Galra.” Like he had to find out he was Altean.

Keith fell silent at that.

”You know... what it’s like to have your entire identity just...”

”Completely change on you.”

Lance nodded.

Keith sighed. “Yeah. I get it. You still should tell everyone else. If anything, so we know in advance if something will hit you harder.”

”Yeah.” Lance looked down at his empty plate.

”Hey.” Keith awkwardly shifted, and when Lance looked up, he was smiling slightly, trying to give Lance the same smile Shiro would. “It’ll be okay. We’ll get through this.”

It was the most leader-y thing Keith had done.

”Thanks,” Lance told him. “I’m going back to my room. I’ll let you eat in peace.”

”Okay. You get some rest.”

Lance nodded, putting his plate aside and going to his room. Keith was right. They’d get through this. Everything would be okay.

Just... he had to get used to be Altean.

Lance took a deep breath.

Get used to it.


	9. Chapter 9

So there was a question no one had asked, not even Lance himself:

Just _how_ Altean was he? What could he do? He obviously had some kind of sensitivity to some of the same things Alteans did. But what else? Could he shapeshift? Was he hiding some kind of crazy strength? Lance stared at the training room, bayard safely stashed away. If things got a little crazy, he’d pull it out. Right now, he just wanted to see... what he could do.

Keep it simple. Level one.

The bot still came for him faster than he expected. He wasn’t used to fighting without his bayard! But he- he had to. He had to see if he was hiding strength he never saw because he used a gun. He never would have thought about it before if he picked up his sisters easily because that was just being a big brother and they were girls, they were tiny... This wasn’t a little girl. This could kill him.

Lance twisted at the last second, panting. Yeah. This could kill him if he wasn’t careful. Why was he doing this again? He could go back to his room and be safe. Why wasn’t he doing that? He wasn’t the one that could fight hand-to-hand. That was Shiro. He couldn’t-

He wasn’t Shiro.

Oh God, he was going to die.

No, he still had his bayard. Lance took several steps backwards, pulling it out and feeling the familiar weight in his hands. Quickly, he shifted his stance, raising it to his eye. And then he exhaled.

The bot dropped, its head blown off by Lance’s shot.

Okay. That was enough. “End simulation,” he called out.

Why had he decided training to find out if he had other Altean traits was a smart idea? Lance let his bayard deactivate, stashing it away again. He could fight, but he... he wasn’t like Keith or Shiro. He wasn’t...

Lance stared at the floor, his limbs feeling heavy. Even Altean, he wasn’t anything special. He was just... Lance.

With that thought, he went over to pick up the bot. It took some effort, but he managed to hold it up and look at it. And that just told him... he wasn’t super strong. One Altean thing down that he wasn’t.

Lance let the bot drop to the ground and turned around to leave.

Maybe there was another Altean thing he had. Like... shapeshifting. He could shapeshift. But right now... he didn’t feel like it. He didn’t feel... good about anything.

He just wanted to go back to his room.

  


* * *

  


”I have to ask you about being Galra,” Lance warned Keith.

With a frown, Keith lifted the water packet to his lips and took a sip. “What’s up?”

”It uh... has to do with my thing.”

Understanding dawned on Keith, and he looked around. “You want to go somewhere more private than a training room?”

”Shiro’s room?” He didn’t want Keith in his room, and he didn’t want to be in Keith’s room. Shiro’s seemed... to be a neutral place. And they knew no one else would want to be there. Not with Shiro still missing.

Lance could see Keith internally wincing at the suggestion. But he saw when Keith resigned himself to the thought. “Yeah. Let me clean up first.”

Yeah. That sounded like a good idea if they were going to be in a small room together. Lance nodded, stepping aside to let Keith go.

Nerves guided his hands to his jacket, playing with the zipper as he walked towards Shiro’s room. It was going to be hard on him too, being in Shiro’s room. A reminder that their leader still wasn’t... wasn’t back with them. They still didn’t know where he was. But it was a quiet place. And Shiro wouldn’t mind.

When Keith entered, his hair still wet from showering, Lance was sitting on the bed, absently zipping and unzipping his jacket. “Oh,” he said, standing up. “Uh.”

Keith waved to the bed, sitting as well. “You wanted to ask me about being Galra? And it has to do about you being Altean?”

It was almost like seeing a tiny Galra Shiro in front of him. Lance felt dizzy as he sat back down. “Yeah... um... are you purple anywhere? Or furry?”

Keith slapped his palm to his face.

”It’s a legit question!”

”Explain,” he growled, staring at Lance through his fingers.

”Well, uh... I just wonder just _how_ Galra or... Altean we are. Like, can... can I shapeshift at all or is that something that um... I lost? That I can’t do anymore because it’s too far back in my family line? I mean...” Lance traced the soft skin until his eyes. “These are gone.”

Keith sighed, lowering his hand. “I’m not purple,” he told him. “Or furry. I... might have some kind of other Galra form since something happened when I was fighting the druid back when we first found out about quintessence. My hand got some purple streaks,” he explained when Lance’s brow furrowed. “It went away when I had some quintessence spilled on me. So... I don’t know. Maybe. What’ve you tried?”

Lance shifted, looking away as he mumbled under his breath. Then, louder, “I trained. Tried to see how strong I was.”

”And?”

”I’m not... like you or Shiro,” he admitted. “I can’t fight like you guys. I had to use my bayard.”

”Hm.” Keith frowned, thinking.

A crazy thought occurred to Lance.

”Stand up.”

Keith blinked, looking up as Lance stood. “What are you doing?”

”I’m going to pick you up. Stand up.”

With a sigh, Keith stood. “Don’t hurt yourself. You might not have Altean strength.”

”I know.” Lance looked at Keith, frowning. Keith wasn’t _big_ , but he saw those muscles. This would be... interesting. How should he do it? Nodding to himself, Lance leaned down to scoop his arm under Keith’s knees, resting his other arm against his back as he pulled Keith up into his arms. Reflexively, Keith wrapped his arms around Lance’s neck, glaring up at him.

Keith was... really heavy.

So that probably meant Altean strength was a no.

Lance carefully put Keith down, grunting. “You’re heavy.”

Instead of glaring at him, Keith just nodded. “That actually is a Galra thing. I’ve always weighed a lot to the point doctors wondered if I was overweight... but they could never find fat on me, so they couldn’t figure out where the weight came from. I’m actually surprised you could pick me up.”

Lance froze.

But Keith was _heavy_... that meant he didn’t have super strength... he had to put him _down_...

...

He had to put Keith down. Even if he had Altean strength, it wouldn’t be useful. Allura could have just picked up Keith like it was nothing. Even his strength wasn’t anything impressive.

”Hey.” Keith reached over, taking his shoulder. “I didn’t-”

”Is it really worth telling them I’m Altean?” Lance asked, not quite looking at him. “I mean, it’s just... kind of a word at this point now. I’m not as strong as Allura.”

”Lance...”

”If I could shapeshift, it wouldn’t be as good as Allura.” Lance closed his eyes. “There’s really no reason to tell them something that would get them all... happy and excited and have me be just... worthless.”

”You’re not worthless,” Keith told him fiercely. “Even if you’re not as strong as Allura, that’s still _strong_. And your worth is more than that. You’re more than just being Altean. Ask anyone here. Ask Hunk.”

How often did Keith have to tell himself that? Now that Shiro was gone, and he was standing in front of him, in Shiro’s room, trying to talk Shiro’s words in Shiro’s voice?

Lance just nodded.

”Can you tell me at least one thing?” he asked.

”What’s that?”

Lance closed his eyes. He didn’t know what to do, but... he just... had this image in his head. The memory of the markings on his cheeks, but in the color that suit him, the brilliant blue of the sea-

He heard Keith’s sharp intake of air.

”How’d I do?” he whispered, opening his eyes.

”It flashed briefly, and if I wasn’t looking for something I would have missed it. But... you had blue markings. For a little bit. Faintly. Really faintly. Really, really faintly.”

Heh. How many times had he done something like that in the past, then? And no one noticed because his shapeshifting was just that pathetic?

There really was no reason to tell anyone else he was Altean. He wasn’t going to be able to do what they wanted him to do.

”Thanks,” Lance muttered. “And... yeah, thanks for the talk.”

Even if it didn’t help.


	10. Chapter 10

Hunk was not subtle. Not when he knew people were hiding something and he wanted to know. Lance squirmed under Hunk’s gaze as he ate, trying to ignore him. He wasn’t going to break and tell him what was going on. Nope. It wasn’t going to matter anyway. Hunk would want to know things and all Lance had was just... a scan. And that he wasn’t as good as an Altean as Allura was.

”Hmmmm.” Lance leaned away from Hunk as he came in closer. “You’re hiding something. Don’t try to deny it.”

”No I’m not.” He smiled, trying to deflect Hunk’s suspicion.

”Hmmmm.”

Why was Hunk in his personal space? Lance chuckled nervously as Hunk raked his eyes over Lance’s form, stroking his chin as he thought. “Dude.”

”Hmmmm.” Finally, Hunk sat back, sighing. “Lance, I don’t know what to say. You’ve been avoiding me ever since we got back from meeting the Alteans. Did something happen? You don’t usually avoid me like that. And you’ve been talking a lot with Keith now.”

Yeah, Hunk wasn’t unobservant. He forgot about that. Hunk had figured out Pidge was a girl when Lance didn’t. A cold chill ran through Lance as he thought that maybe Hunk figured out he was Altean before Lance did as well. Hunk was _smart._ “It’s nothing. Just... needing to talk with Keith about stuff.”

”Galra stuff?”

Ow. Close enough to hurt.

”I thought you didn’t want to ask him about being Galra?”

”There’s just... things I had to ask him.” He didn’t know what else to say.

Hunk sighed. “You know you can talk to me if there’s anything wrong. And I mean anything, Lance.” He reached out, taking Lance’s hand. “I’ll be here for anything that will happen for you. I promise.”

Lance blinked, his eyes suddenly very wet. “Yeah,” he whispered. “I know.” He grunted in surprise as Hunk hugged him suddenly, then laughed, patting his back. “Dude. It’s not like I’m dying here. I’m okay.”

”I just want to make sure you’re okay,” Hunk told him seriously as he let him go. “Really. You deserve happiness.”

Lance laughed a little at that, shaking his head. “It’s okay,” he repeated. “It’s just...” He sighed. “Stuff I have to talk about with Keith.”

”Okay.” Hunk looked at him again, frowning. Lance twitched a little, even though no, there was nothing that would- he wasn’t much stronger than the rest of them, and when he tried to shapeshift (which he must have done that in the past, if he managed to do it in front of Keith), it was incredibly pathetic and gone quickly.

But Hunk just slapped him on the back. “I’m going to go hang out with Pidge,” he told him. “See you later.”

”See you,” Lance echoed as Hunk left.

He should probably tell Hunk, but... he saw how Hunk reacted to Keith’s Galraness. For him, being Altean... it was just a word. He wasn’t... anything important.

Lance finished eating and went back to his room. He wasn’t anything important.

  


* * *

  


When the distress call from the Alteans came, Lance couldn’t muster up any surprise. They were so close to Galra that of course they would be attacked. The only thing that would be less surprising would be if it was a ruse and they were trying to lead them into a trap.

As Lance took Blue’s controls in hand, he realized he pretty much expected that right now. It was just... why else would they be living so close if they weren’t working with the Galra?

It just... made him sad to realize he was thinking that way now. The Alteans were supposed to be cool! Meeting them was supposed to be neat! Hey, more Alteans, cool! But no, he had to learn he was Altean because of them and then have a big identity crisis about it. Because of them.

The battle wasn’t even anything to talk about. Ever since defeating Zarkon, the Galra were... disorganized. They hadn’t gone away, but they were still around. Still a threat. They just weren’t as big a threat.

Everyone had a pretty good idea, though, a storm was coming. They just didn’t know when.

This time, all the Paladins went with Allura when she went to talk to the Alteans. No one intended to blame them, but he could see Keith wanted to. But, like the leader he was emulating, he kept his tongue as Allura stepped forward.

Before she could say anything, the Altean leader also stepped forward. She really was lovely, Lance thought distantly. Ebony black skin with light brown curls, piled up on top of her head. She would be a perfect elf back on Earth. Maybe these were the type of Alteans that made it to Earth that the fantasy writers saw and thought about.

”We were able to recover our dead and wounded thanks to you,” she told Allura. “It’s been lost how ancient Alteans prepared their dead, so I am not sure if you would wish to take part.”

”I would assume you require some sort of incineration,” Allura said back, and Lance could hear slight disgust in her voice. “You have no room to store your dead otherwise.”

The leader inclined her head. “Sadly, yes. No matter what your answer is, Princess Allura, we still thank you for your help today.” Her face grew haunted. “We had... wondered when that would happen. But we did not have the resources to move when the Galra forces came so close.”

Now Lance felt like an asshole.

He could see Allura felt the same. “I see,” she said, keeping it out of her voice.

The leader inhaled deeply. “You are looking for one of your own, correct? We may have a lead. Kiola.”

The girl that had made up Lance stepped forward. “Yes, Basq?”

”Can you get the coordinates we took from the Galra?”

”Is that why they attacked?” Pidge asked. “Because you stole something from them?”

”We are running dangerously low on all resources,” Basq told her. “We do what we must to survive. If that includes stealing from the Galra, and trying to steal information as to their next supply runs, so be it.”

This was just... wrong. So wrong. How could anyone live this way?

Allura drew herself up straighter. “We can get you in contact with our allies,” she told Basq. “They can help you so you no longer need to steal your supplies.”

Basq nodded once as Kiola stepped up to Allura, holding out a data slate. “These are the coordinates,” she told her. “I hope it helps.”

”Thank you, Kiola.” Allura looked at them, frowning. “This is... near Arus.”

Near the beginning of their journey.

It was time to go back to the beginning.


	11. Chapter 11

They were going to get Shiro. Everything was going to be okay again. They’d get Shiro back, and everything would be...

Lance sat up in bed.

No. Everything would still be dumb. He would still be Altean. And it still wouldn’t count for anything except that he wasn’t as human as he thought he was. Everything he had known for his entire life was a lie. He wasn’t just a boy from Cuba. He was an _alien_ boy from Cuba.

How did Keith deal with it? Suddenly realizing he was Galra like that? He had known for so long he was human, and then boom, suddenly he was Galra. How did he deal with it?

... okay, so the easiest thing was to actually go _talk_ to their leader and ask these questions. Talk to him about what he thought when he found out he was Galra. It would only be the smart thing to do. And Lance could do smart things.

It was when Lance was leaving his room that he realized he was thinking of Keith as their official leader now. But... he kind of was. With everything that had happened... Keith had stepped into the role and even if he sucked at it at times, he lead Voltron. Did he still want to lead Voltron?

Not his problem. That was a Keith problem. His problem laid in being Altean and how the other person from Earth finding out he was an alien dealt with it. Lance stopped in front of Keith’s door, knocking. And after a moment, Keith opened the door, still dressed for the day, still quite awake. “Yes?”

”I uh. Need to talk.” Lance shoved his hands into his pockets, looking away as he hunched into himself.

Keith nodded, understanding, and let him in. “What’s up?” he asked once the door closed, settling on the bed.

Lance did the same, sighing. “I’m just... having a lot of problems with the whole Altean thing. I mean, I... How’d you deal with it? Finding out you’re Galra?”

”I told everyone not to bother me about it,” Keith deadpanned.

That made Lance snort in laughter. “Okay, but I mean internally. How’d you deal with it?”

With a sigh, Keith sat back slightly. “Not well,” he admitted. “I never knew my mother, but I just _knew_ that I had to be human because I was from Earth. And then I saw those purple streaks and I didn’t... deal really that well. I guess I dealt better finding out for sure when I took the trials, actually having confirmation of what was going on, and... realizing not all Galra were evil.”

Lance looked down at his hands.

”Hey-”

”Do you have any pynon?” Lance interrupted.

Keith sighed, irritated. “That stuff is toxic to Alteans.”

”I’m just a little Altean.”

”It’s toxic enough that you shouldn’t have anymore. You were hungover the next day.”

”Yeah, but I need-” Lance waved his arms, agitated. “You’re the enemy and you had a better time than me at this! If I come out and say “Oh hey, I’m Altean, Pidge has the proof,” I have to _be Altean._ Allura and Coran will want me to be Altean. You can be our Galra leader and just no wants you to be-”

”I don’t want to be your leader!” Keith nearly shouted at him. “I’m just leading you because Shiro’s not here.”

”That doesn’t matter! You can still be Galra and no one expects you to be anything important or special! Oh, you’re Galra, okay, we don’t even know what they’re supposed to do!” Lance broke off, breathing raggedly. “They’ll want me to be Altean,” he finally whispered. “And I can’t be. I’m _human_ , Keith. I’m...”

Keith just sat there for a moment after Lance broke off before saying, “I know how you feel. I kind of... feel the same. Hunk would ask me questions about being Galra I couldn’t answer. And I just kept thinking the same thing: I’m human. I didn’t know how a Galra would answer.”

Lance snorted without much humor.

”I can’t-” Keith broke off, looking annoyed. “Look, just-” He inhaled deeply, frowning. “If anyone gives you shit, let me know. If I have to be our leader, then I’ll be the leader. And then when we get Shiro back, he’ll back you up. So you’ll have both of us behind you.”

”Are you telling me to tell them?” Lance asked, raising an eyebrow.

”I’m telling you to make good decisions.”

Wow, he didn’t even follow that up with a pithy comment.

”Just...” Keith leaned forward, resting his forearms on his thighs as he sighed. “Look. No one’s going to _hate_ you on board for being Altean. So you have that going for you over me. Allura and Coran are going to love you for it.”

”Yeah, I know,” Lance muttered.

”And if anyone gives you shit for not being ‘Altean enough,’ just let me know. Or Shiro, when we get him back. Okay?”

”It’s not- It can’t be that easy.” It just couldn’t be. “It-”

”Don’t overthink it.” Keith glared at him.

”But-”

”Seriously, calm down. It’ll be okay.”

Lance took a deep breath, pulling his feet up onto the bed without thinking. Then he dropped them, remembering he had shoes on and this was _Keith’s_ bed. No shoes on someone else’s bed. “Yeah.”

”You gonna be okay there, Lance?”

”No!” Lance’s eyes went wide. “I’m not completely human and we’re talking about me getting everyone together and saying ‘hey guys, so I’m Altean.’ Of course I’m not going to be okay!”

Keith sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You know me and Pidge will be there to back you up. And that Hunk will support you no matter what happens.”

”It’s-” Lance frowned. “I don’t know if I can _say_ it.”

That had Keith’s face smoothing over. “Yeah. I think I get that. Okay then...”

”But I’ll do it.” Lance said, looking at him. “I mean... what if we run into something that’s deadly only to Alteans and I get sick? Better we know now.”

Keith nodded. “Remember. I got your back.”

Lance nodded. “Hey. You’re our leader for now. You have to.”


	12. Chapter 12

This was going to be the last night of him being officially human. Lance looked up at the ceiling as music filtered into his ears, not able to sleep. After tonight, he was officially going to be Altean. He was officially... going to be an alien.

Lance let his hand rest against his chest, tapping out a beat with his thumb. He wasn’t ever going to be able to say he was human ever again after tonight. Slowly, he let his eyes close, taking a deep breath. He had to do this.

Was this how Pidge felt when she came out as a girl? The overwhelming pressure to just... tell the truth? To just let everyone know? He felt like he just... like it was time. They needed to know he was Altean. But after today, it couldn’t go back to the way things were. He would never be human again.

He could go ask Pidge about tips for coming out. But that would kind of... not be the same. Gender wasn’t the same. He couldn’t equate how he felt to how she felt. There wasn’t an equivalent.

Sighing, Lance got up, putting the headphones aside as he got dressed again. Well, he wasn’t sleeping tonight. He just... needed to walk. Not really to talk to anyone. Just... walk. He started down the hall, hands shoved into his pockets.

No one else was up. At one point, one other person would have been, but they were on their way to get that person back. So he would be able to walk around the castle without anyone else bothering him. Lance sighed, hunching in on himself.

”Lance?”

Allura’s voice made him turn. She was dressed for bed, but he could see she was just as wide awake as he was. “Hey.”

”You are not one I expected to see awake at this hour. Is everything alright?” Her face grew concerned, looking over him.

There wasn’t... anything Lance could do but just... look away from her.

”Lance.” He could hear her coming closer.

”You know how things just... change on you?” Lance asked her quietly. “Something could be completely the same for you forever and ever and then all of a sudden you learn something and everything’s different?”

”I do.”

He closed his eyes. He knew she was thinking about the Galra and her reactions to them. It wasn’t the same. “Pidge did some scans on me.” Lance opened his eyes again, not quite looking at her yet. “Guess I’m not as human as I thought I was.”

”Oh Lance...” Allura reached out, touching his arm. “Are you...”

”I’m Altean.” The words left his lips simply. Emptily. “Alteans look like Earth elves. I guess that’s what they thought they were on Earth, and I have one in my family line somewhere.” He couldn’t look at Allura. “I’m...”

Her hand cupped his arm. “Lance. While I am ecstatic to hear you are Altean, you aren’t. What is wrong?”

”Allura, I’m not human.” Lance licked his lips, still not looking at her. “I was raised human and I’m _not._ And I’m not- I’m not you or Coran and I can’t-”

”Hush.” Her voice was stern. “What do you mean by that?”

”I’m not strong like you,” he whispered. “I can’t shapeshift. I’m not...” Oh God, he felt like he was going to cry in front of _Allura._ After all of that talking in front of Keith and it was Allura where he was finally going to break down and cry. “I-”

Allura’s hand tightened for a moment. “Do you think that’s what makes you Altean, Lance? Physical strength and shapeshifting?”

He nodded.

”Basq and Kiola could do neither.”

Lance finally looked over at her, surprised.

Her eyes were steady on his. “The only mark of their Altean heritage they had left were their ears. I had watched them struggle with a bundle that a single full blooded Altean would pick up easily. None of them could shapeshift. Did that make them less Altean to you?”

Mutely, Lance shook his head. They were still... really cool.

”Your abilities do not define how Altean you are. Only the blood in your veins and your willingness to claim it.” Allura let him go. “You are Altean.”

”Yeah, but...” Lance looked away. “I wasn’t supposed to be. I was supposed to be a boy from Cuba.”

”Could you not be both?”

”I-”

”Your heritage as an Altean does not change where you are from. It does not change what you grew up with.”

Lance closed his eyes.

”Will you be telling the rest of the ship soon, Lance?”

”Pidge and Keith already know,” he told her, opening his eyes again. “I was going to tell everyone else tomorrow. I just...” Lance shook his head. “Tonight’s the last night I’m still human to some of the people here, you know? And then tomorrow... I’m not.”

”We will support you no matter what,” she told him. “And it is exciting that you are Altean! If you wish, you can learn Altean along with Pidge and learn our history.”

Lance shifted. “I- I don’t know-”

”Ah.” Allura stepped back, making Lance look up at her. “I do suppose I am getting a little overexcited here. The offer will always be here, however, should you wish to accept it. And oh, Lance...” She smiled at him. “Thank you for telling me.”

”Yeah. I... yeah.” Lance smiled back at her, forcing his lips to curve.

As she walked away, he let the smile drop. She... he was Altean to her. Even without everything else that made him Altean...

Lance looked down at his hand. He was Altean.

And tomorrow, he would let everyone know.

  


* * *

  


Keith caught his eye as Lance finished his goo. The two of them nodded, and Lance stood up, clearing his throat.

Now or never.

At least everyone was here.

”Guys... I have something to say.”


	13. Chapter 13

”I mean, it didn’t upset you, did it?” Hunk’s eyes were wide, worried. “I knew something was wrong and I guessed it had to do with the fact you were spending time with Keith. So I just knew that-”

”It had something to do with the fact he was Galra,” Lance sighed. “How did you get that I was Altean from that?”

No one had been surprised. Yeah, Pidge and Keith had already known, and Allura he had told the night before, but Coran and Hunk should have been surprised. He could guess that Allura told Coran, but Hunk... Damn, sometimes he forgot just how _smart_ Hunk was. But at the same time it helped a lot to not have to deal with a lot of weird questions. At least no one had asked if he could shapeshift or something.

”Well, it just made sense?” Hunk shrugged. “You wouldn’t bug him about being Galra unless there was a really good reason.”

Lance smiled a little. “Yeah. I guess so.”

Hunk smiled back at him. “So, what are you going to do now? I mean... are you going to learn shapeshifting from Allura? Or Altean?” He gasped. “If you learn Altean, can you help me out in the kitchen? I’d like to know what some of the stuff I use is called.”

”Uh...” And here were the awkward questions. He knew Hunk meant well, but... “I mean, I-”

”Or-”

”Hunk, give Lance some room to breathe,” came Pidge’s voice. Lance looked over to see her on her laptop, frowning. “Hm.”

”What’d you find?” Keith leaned over, looking at her screen.

”There’s a Galra battlecruiser in that area. Probably what the coordinates were referring to.” Pidge frowned. “I don’t know if they know what they have... they just mention they have an alien prisoner.”

”I’m not saying we shouldn’t go and rescue whoever it is, but this might not be Shiro.” Keith looked at all of them in turn. “I don’t want all of you to get your hopes up that we are definitely rescuing Shiro here. Considering Pidge can’t get in to see who it is, we might be rescuing a prisoner of war that isn’t Shiro.”

”Yeah, but we still need to go,” Lance shot back at him.

”Did I not- Of course we’re going!” Keith snapped, exasperated. “Even if we knew for certain this wasn’t Shiro, I still would go. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew this might not be Shiro.”

”No, I got it,” Pidge told him. “And if it’s not, we’ll keep looking.” Her eyes were steady, determined. But of course they would be, Lance reasoned. She had been searching for her father and brother - who was one more person to search for?

Keith nodded at all of them. “We’ll keep looking, if he’s not there.”

Everyone nodded back at him.

As they all turned away, Lance walked over to Keith. “Yo. You doing okay?” he asked, his voice quiet.

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

”Well... we’re about to go get Shiro. Normally, you’d be excited about that, right?”

Keith sighed. “It’s... I keep thinking to myself ‘what if it isn’t Shiro?’ And if it isn’t...” He rubbed his face. “I never asked to lead Voltron,” he muttered, so softly Lance almost didn’t hear it. “And I would do anything to have Shiro back so I could hand this back off to him. But if it’s not him, I have to do everything right. I have to make sure everyone’s okay.”

”Hey.” Lance placed a hand on his shoulder. “No one’s going to fault you for not wanting this. You pretty much were the only one that could lead us after everything that happened. And we all want Shiro back too. Not because you’re a bad leader, but...”

”We just all want Shiro safe.” Keith sighed. “I know.” He closed his eyes, and wow, when did Keith look so old?

Lance had no idea what to do. This was Keith! He was starting to get along with him thanks to being alien like him, but... what else could he do? Finally, Lance just squeezed his shoulder. “You know you don’t have to hold this in, right?” he told him. “You can talk to us. Remember, Hunk’s a good listener.”

Keith took a deep breath, and nodded. “Yeah. I know. Sometimes, though, it’s just... I kind of wish Shiro was here so I could go talk to him about... things. Being a leader.”

”Talk to Allura?” Lance suggested. “She’s as much our leader as you are.”

”I have been. I just... knew Shiro longer and I feel more comfortable talking to him.”

Well, that made sense. Lance nodded. “I get you. Well... you know you can always talk to one of us if you need to. I mean, I’ll listen to you if you want to talk.” His lips curved into a smile. “Us aliens have to stick together, right?”

Keith laughed at that. “Yeah, I guess so.”

”There we go.” Lance puffed up, smiling. “Now you come talk whenever you need to, okay?”

”As long as you do the same.” Keith eyed him. “I mean, us aliens have to stick together, right?”

Lance laughed.

  


* * *

  


”Allura, I already told you,” Lance moaned. “I can’t shapeshift.”

”You can manage small shifts.” Allura frowned at him. “They aren’t much, but it proves you have at least some ability. If you can manage that, you should learn how to control it. It may be useful in the future! Now, again. Changing one’s skin color is the simplest thing you can do.”

Lance moaned. He should have never told her he was Altean. He couldn’t do this. At least not for long! They were quick little flashes, here and gone. He couldn’t sustain a shift at all.

”This is going to be part of your Paladin training from now on,” Allura told him, glaring at him. “Do not make such noises.”

No, he should not have told Allura he was Altean. Lance sighed, closing his eyes again. At least what Allura had been trying to teach him seemed... like it made sense. She wanted him to change his skin blue. How to do so seemed weird, but it made sense in some ways. It was just... he couldn’t sustain it. His skin would flash blue and be gone. He couldn’t do what she wanted.

But this was his life now. And he was going to try to do this. Even if he couldn’t do it, he still had to _try_.

Who knew? Maybe even the brief flashes would come in handy.


	14. Chapter 14

”We should be coming up on the battlecruiser soon,” Allura told them. Lance stood a little straighter as she looked at all of them, holding his helmet under his arm. They were going to get Shiro. “Paladins. Get into position to launch.”

”We’re just here to get Shiro,” Keith added, looking at them. “Don’t get yourselves killed getting distracted from that.”

They nodded at that, and Lance caught Keith’s eye. Keith nodded back at him, putting his helmet on. They all knew what they had to do here. And they all knew the consequences of failing. Even if this wasn’t Shiro, there was no room for error. They had to rescue whoever this was.

But Lance just knew it. This was Shiro. It had to be.

Once they were in their Lions, they waited for Allura’s signal. They had to wait, see how much defense the battlecruiser had. If there were a lot of fighters out there, they had to be prepared. Lance pulled up Blue’s displays, studying them. “Doesn’t look like there’s a lot of air traffic,” he heard Hunk say.

”We should still wait until we’re closer,” Keith warned. “We might need the Castle’s defenses. Better to be careful.”

”Just as long as you don’t do anything stupid once we’re out there,” Lance shot back cheekily.

He heard Keith laugh at that. “You too. Don’t do anything stupid to keep up with me.”

That took Lance so much by surprise that he laughed as well. “Understood.”

”Paladins.” Allura’s voice silenced all of them. “We are in position.”

”Lance, you and Pidge board the ship. She should be able to lead you where you need to go and open doors remotely for you. Hunk and I will provide cover fire.”

”Gotcha.” Lance’s hands tightened on his control sticks. He was ready to go.

They were getting Shiro back.

Once they launched, it was a little disappointing just how much defense there really was. Did they really not know they had the Black Paladin? Or... Lance frowned. Maybe they didn’t actually have the defenses to spare? The Galra empire may not have been shattered after they got rid of Zarkon, but it was a lot weaker. Maybe this really was the best they could do right now.

A chilling thought occurred to him.

What if this was all they could afford because whoever was in charge was defending something else they consider more important? Lance shivered. He didn’t like that thought.

Lance shot down another fighter, dodging a shot from another quickly. “I’m almost at the battlecruiser,” he reported. “Pidge?”

”Right behind you.” And as Blue landed, so did Green. Lance quickly exited, his bayard out, and nodded to Pidge as she exited Green. The two of them instantly ran into the battlecruiser, ready to find Shiro.

Usually, in any battlecruiser they were on, there was a computer for Pidge to hack into in this direction... and there it was. Pidge instantly got to work, and within a few moments the door to the room was opening and closing on her demand. “Good. I have the map. Take a left once you’re out of here, then the fifth right.”

Lance nodded at her, and started down the path she described, hearing the door slam shut behind him. Every so often, he’d hear her tell him to pause, and he pulled himself away from whatever corner he was about to round, only to hear guards pass in a run. It didn’t take long to get where he needed to go with her directing him, and soon he was in front of a door. “Pidge. I need in.”

”I’m on it.” He could hear Pidge typing, then a soft “fuck.”

”What’s wrong?” Lance turned his head, hoping he didn’t hear anyone coming.

”It won’t open remotely. We’re going to need a Galra to open it. Keith?”

”Little busy out here!” came Keith’s curt response.

Lance bit his lip, looking at his hand. He could shapeshift in very brief flashes. And Allura had been able to open Galra doors.

”I might be able to open it,” he said quietly. “Be ready to be on high alert if I can’t, though.”

”Lance, what are you going to do?” Keith demanded.

”Something dumb.” With those words, he slammed his hand onto a nearby sensor, focusing desperately on the thought of _Galra._ He didn’t know what their DNA would be like, but he hoped that his Altean side would realize what he was trying to do and shift to accommodate it. He just needed his hand to be Galra long enough to open it, that’s all he needed...

He couldn’t hold the shift for much longer, though. “Open, open, open,” he whispered, feeling his heart pick up. It was going to fail-

The door opened.

Shiro looked up at him, eyes not focusing. As Lance bent down next to him, he noticed with some sadness that Shiro’s hair was almost completely white. “I got him,” Lance told them, pulling Shiro to his feet. “Hey there, big guy. We’re getting you out of here.”

In response, Shiro only closed his eyes, smiling.

They had him.

They had Shiro.

  


* * *

  


”You got him out by shapeshifting your hand to a Galra one?” Allura asked, curious. “That is... quite impressive, actually.”

Lance shrugged. “Not really? I mean, I could feel my hand going back to normal pretty quickly, and I was certain it was going to fail. Like, really fail.”

”You still managed to shift enough to fool a sensor,” Allura told him. “That is very impressive. Then we should increase your training, if you’re already mastering that!”

Ah man. Lance just barely managed to hold back a groan. “How’s Shiro doing?” he asked instead.

”From what I’ve been told, he appears to be malnourished and exhausted. He will be fine after he comes out of the cryopod. Now, for your training...”

Lance did groan at that. He never asked for this...

”Hey Allura.” Keith’s voice was a welcome interruption. “I need to talk to Lance.”

”Of course.” Allura nodded to Keith. “I will see you at training,” she told Lance before she left.

”What’s up?” Lance ran a hand through his hair, making a face at how sweaty he still felt. He needed to take a shower.

”You felt it too, didn’t you?” Keith frowned. “Something didn’t feel right about any of this. If anything, they would know they had the Champion. Why wasn’t security any better?”

Lance frowned. “You think they’re adjusting where they have people? Like, for some reason, Shiro wasn’t as important as whatever else they have?”

Keith looked at him, and nodded.

That wasn’t a good thing to hear. “If that’s the case, what could they need that defense for? What could they be hiding?”

”I don’t know,” Keith said thoughtfully. “But we need to be careful. We need-”

”Hey.” Lance reached out, taking Keith by the shoulders. “Go rest. We got Shiro. He can make those decisions now. You don’t have to take the world on your shoulders anymore. You can just be Keith.”

”Yeah.” Keith nodded, taking a deep breath. “Yeah. And you go take a shower. No matter how much you shapeshift, you can’t make that smell go away.”

Lance made a mock offended noise. “You wound me!” But he smiled, patting Keith’s shoulder. “But I mean it. Rest. We’ll think about this tomorrow.”

Keith smiled back at him, nodding. “Yeah.”

Lance patted his shoulder one last time before leaving. They had gotten Shiro. Shiro was back.

No matter what the Galra were hiding now, Voltron would be coming for them.

And...

Lance looked at his hand.

They wouldn’t know what hit them.


	15. Chapter 15

Ugh. Lance groaned, rubbing his head as his door closed behind him. He had _told_ Allura he couldn’t do that for long, but she kept trying to make him sustain a shift longer than he could. She was lucky he could recreate what he did to get Shiro out! He couldn’t do what she could, but at least for a second he could fool anything into thinking he was Galra.

And now... Lance closed his eyes. Now, they just waited for Shiro to get out of the cryopod. It would be any time now. Keith was down there now, which Lance was all about. He needed to be there with Shiro when he woke up. And he’d know what to say. How to ask any questions. Keith knew Shiro.

Which, Lance hoped he would ask questions. Like ‘what are the Galra doing?’ Because there should have been a lot more there. They should have been attacked by a lot more. Why weren’t they? Where were all the Galra?

Not questions he liked.

Lance stripped, going to his shower. He’d feel better once he showered. And then he could go join Keith in watching Shiro. Maybe he’d be there when Shiro woke up. That’d be nice.

Water ran over his face as he stood under the spray, making him yearn for rain showers. It was just enough to make him remember how it felt wandering under clouds as they showered on him, soaking him through and through until he made his way back inside, his mother instantly bundling him up in a towel. He wanted to go home...

But he still wouldn’t be human back on Earth.

Lance’s eyes opened slightly as he thought about that, his limbs feeling heavy. He would be apart from everyone except his family if he went back because he was Altean. No one else was Altean. He was probably around more of his people out here.

Except back home, he was also Cuban, and no one else here was, so he was alone in that aspect out here...

He was just alone, wasn’t he?

Lance finished washing up, sighing. He shouldn’t think like that. At least he had a home to go back to. Keith... was an orphan. He was the only Galra here, and if they went back to Earth, he still had nowhere to go. At least Lance had somewhere to go. It didn’t make it feel any better, though, to know that.

After pulling on his clothes, Lance started down to the med bay. He really needed to know how Shiro was doing. He just... needed to see him. To make sure that he had really gotten Shiro back. It still didn’t feel real that he had just gone in, avoided a few Galra, and gotten him back. It felt... like a dream.

Once he entered, Keith lifted his head, looking around blearily as he stood. “Who...?”

”It’s just me,” Lance assured him. “How’s Sleeping Beauty doing?”

Keith rubbed his eyes. “Same as always. He should be out soon.”

”Cool, cool.” Lance paused, looking over at him. “You gonna rest after he gets out and you tell him how much you missed him?”

Keith grunted.

”C’mon man, I need an actual word here.”

”Yeah,” Keith finally said. “I’ll rest. Right now...” He looked up at Shiro, his jaw setting.

”Nah, I get it. That’s why I said _after_ he gets out.” Lance looked up at Shiro as well. Yeah, that was Shiro. No one else. He had actually gone and gotten him.

”It doesn’t feel right,” Keith muttered. “Even if they’re hiding something else, they should have been guarding Shiro more. They would know he was at least the Champion, if not the Black Paladin. If they knew that, there should have been a lot more...”

Lance clasped his shoulder. “I know. But there wasn’t. And we have Shiro.”

”And there aren’t any Galra on the sensors?” Keith looked over at him.

”Allura hasn’t seen any.” Didn’t mean they weren’t there, but so far they hadn’t seen any.

Keith frowned. “We-”

”Dude. Keith.” Lance grabbed him by the shoulders. “You are _free_ of being our leader. We have Shiro. Let it go.”

”I just-” Keith gestured at Shiro. “This doesn’t seem right! We should be on guard in case-”

Lance shook him slightly. “Let. It. Go.”

Keith glared at him. “Don’t ever do that again.”

”I will do it again if you keep being a dingus.” Lance glared back at him. “If you keep this up, I’ll make you go back to your room and miss Shiro get out. You’re not our leader anymore. You can calm down.”

Keith took a deep breath. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. It’s just... hard to turn that off.” Lance let go of him as he lifted a hand to run through his hair. “I’ve had to make all these hard and fast decisions and it’s just... really hard to turn all this off.”

Lance smiled sadly at him. “Yeah, I get it. But try, okay?” He drew breath to say more when the sound of the pod opening interrupted him. The both of them turned to see Shiro stumble out, and Keith rushed forward to steady him. Lance came closer, his breath caught. Shiro still looked so _tired_.

”Hey,” Keith whispered. “How are you feeling?”

The flash of yellow in Shiro’s eyes almost went unnoticed.

Almost.

The Galra hand wrapped around Keith’s throat before either of them could stop him. Keith tried to pry Shiro’s hand off, kicking as he was lifted off the ground. Lance’s fingers dug at the prosthetic fingers, trying to get them off, only to be ignored. He could see Keith’s face going red as he struggled for breath-

Lance’s focus narrowed. He had to get Shiro’s hand off Keith’s neck. With a growl, he grabbed Shiro’s fingers one last time, feeling something run through him as he bent them back, hearing them creak to their breaking point. Shiro turned to him, eyes narrowing just as Lance shoved him, sending him flying across the room, his head slamming against the wall as he hit it.

The two of them both collapsed to the ground, Shiro unconscious and Lance screaming in pain. His muscles did not like doing that. He wasn’t meant to do that... But- he swallowed another noise of pain as he pushed himself upward, his arms shaking hard as he got to his feet. “Keith?”

”’m okay,” Keith said hoarsely.

”Good. I’m going to pass out now.”

”Don’t you dare.”

”Too late. Passing out.” Lance laid back down, his entire body weak and aflame in pain. If he never moved again, he’d be happy.

He heard Keith snort, then- “Allura. Get everyone down here. We have a problem.”


	16. Chapter 16

”So... what the fuck happened?” Pidge asked, staring at Shiro’s unconscious face. “I mean, we got Shiro, right? That’s not... like a clone or something?”

”From what we can tell, he’s not a shapeshifter in the shape of Shiro, or a brainwashed clone,” Coran told her. “He is most definitely our Black Paladin. However, it appears something has put more stress on him more than usual- perhaps having flipped a certain switch in him.”

Lance’s eyes fell to Shiro’s arm, then over to Keith. The two of them nodded, coming to the same conclusion. “Is it possible there might have been something in his arm that could change his behavior?” Keith asked, turning to Pidge. “Something they could have programmed in while he was gone?”

”I’d have to get a crack at his arm,” she told him. “But that’d mean we’d have to get him out of that pod and I like my throat not squeezed to death, thank you very much.”

”Could we sedate him?” Lance looked over at Coran. “Like, are there any Altean sedatives we could use on him so Pidge could work?”

Coran frowned. “That is quite the idea. However, these sedatives have been tested only on Alteans. If we use them on a human, who would know what would happen.”

”I don’t think we have much of a choice,” Keith said, turning to Coran. “We need to figure out why it was Shiro attacked us. That arm is more advanced than any prosthetic we have on Earth. It moves just like it’s his real arm, and we already know data can be stored in it. If it interfaces with his nerves like it’s his real arm, we need to know if anything else can be transmitted back to the brain.”

”Like the need to kill his friends,” Pidge finished. “I can hack into it, but if I’m doing any deep data mining, I need that arm free. Coran, is there any way you can just free the arm?”

”Hm.” Coran thought for a moment, plucking at his mustache. “Perhaps. It will be difficult, but I think I can engage the pod and keep his arm outside of it at the same time.”

”Do so,” Keith instructed, and turned to Pidge. “How long will it take you?”

”Depends on how encrypted it is. I’ll let you know when I got it.”

Keith nodded, looking over at Lance. “Let Lance or I know when you’re done,” he told her, turning his attention back to her.

Lance blinked at that. Why would Keith tell her to let him know...? He stared at Keith as he came over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “I need to talk to you and Allura in private,” he told Lance in a low voice.

”Yeah, of course.” Lance followed him, not really understanding what was going on anymore. What did Keith want to say to him that he didn’t want the others to hear?

When the three of them were alone, Keith looked between them, frowning. “I’m not the only one that feels this isn’t it, am I?”

Lance blinked again as Allura lifted her hand to her chin. “It does appear strange,” she said. “A single Paladin, even one as strong as Shiro, could be neutralized by the rest of us. If this is the trap they were leading us towards, it is a weak one.”

”So we all agree we’re being lead to a trap?” Lance asked quietly. “And yeah, I agree. Even if I hadn’t been there, Keith could have taken Shiro by himself. I bet you two even trained for if you were held by the throat like that.”

Keith nodded. “Something’s coming.”

Lance looked over at Pidge and Hunk. “Should we tell them?”

Allura thought about that for a moment as Keith looked behind him as well. The two of them looked at each other, coming to the same decision together. “We need to focus on getting Shiro back,” Keith told him. “If a trap gets sprung soon, we’ll need Shiro.”

”If a trap gets sprung, we don’t need them surprised,” Lance argued.

”We can warn them we may need Shiro sooner rather than later,” Allura suggested. “However, I would rather they focus on finding out why Shiro is attacking us than worrying about the upcoming threat.”

Lance sighed. They were right. They had to figure out what was wrong with Shiro. “Fine. I’ll tell them.”

Keith and Allura nodded. Lance turned towards Pidge and Hunk, walking back over to them. “Hey,” he told Pidge quietly. “Really focus on this, okay? We’ve been without Shiro for a long time. We really need him back sooner rather than later.”

The two of them blinked at him. “Yeah, of course,” Pidge said. “It shouldn’t take me too long.”

Lance grinned, patting her shoulder. “That’s our Pidge!”

She grunted, waving at him. “Now go. Let me work.”

”Leaving.” Lance turned and left, feeling strange. What had just happened between him, Keith, and Allura? Why had Keith asked him to come with him when he talked to Allura?

What just happened with _him_? What did he just do? All the things he talked about with Allura and Keith, and then what he told Pidge and Hunk...

Lance rubbed his eyes. It probably wasn’t going to happen again. Whatever had happened... it just happened the once. He wasn’t going to be able to do that again. It wouldn’t matter if he analyzed what just happened because it was never going to happen again.

But Allura and Keith were right, he considered as he entered his room. This didn’t feel finished. Shiro by himself couldn’t take them all down unless he really took them all by surprise, and that would take a lot of luck. The Galra didn’t seem like they put a lot of faith in luck. So why did they let him take-

Lance’s eyes went wide as he rushed out his room towards Keith’s. “Hey,” he yelled, knocking. “Keith!”

The door didn’t open. Keith wasn’t there. Lance swore under his breath as he ran down the halls. Hopefully he’d still be with Allura. Damn it. Why hadn’t they realized it? Of course- damn it- there, in the bridge, his leaders.

Keith and Allura turned to him as he ran up to them. “What’s wrong?” Keith asked, frowning.

Lance opened his mouth, ready to say that _no, Shiro wasn’t the trap, he was the-_

When alarms sounded.

Keith’s eyes went wide as Allura went to the helm, bringing up the image of a Galra fleet coming closer, more and more fighters pouring out than they could deal with without Voltron. He turned to Lance, realization hitting him as well.

”Shiro was bait,” he whispered.


	17. Chapter 17

Before Lance or Keith could open their mouths, Allura’s fingers were flying over the displays. “I can create a wormhole to jump us out of here,” she told them.

”Do it,” Lance told her, then hesitated, turning to Keith. “I mean... you’re the leader, not me.”

Keith didn’t answer. He... looked like he was about ready to say they were going to stay and fight, but something was holding him back. Teeth grit as Keith’s eyebrows drew together, his hands fisting. “Do it,” he finally said. “We’d need Shiro, and Pidge is working on that. So we’d be two Paladins down if we fought them now. We need time. And anyway-” His lips quirked. “I’d be outnumbered two to one here anyway.”

Allura nodded as Lance blinked at him. What did he mean by that? Allura and Keith were the leaders. Was... did Keith mean that he was taking _Lance’s_ decisions seriously? What the hell? He didn’t say anything as Allura made the wormhole jump, just watched Keith’s face, trying to understand what the hell was going on. Why was Keith treating him this way?

Keith looked up at him, frowning. “What’s that face for?”

”You took me seriously. Like... you’re the leader. You don’t have to.”

”You really don’t get it, do you?” Keith sighed. “You’ve been like my second-in-command for a while now. I’m just making it more obvious now. I trust you, Lance. And your strengths are in areas where I’m weak.” Keith ran a hand through his hair. “So yeah. If you say something incredibly dumb I have override, but I’m not going to shut you out immediately. You have good ideas.”

Lance’s jaw could not close. “I never thought I’d hear those words from you,” he finally squeaked out. Keith considered him good enough to be a second-in-command. To make decisions that he would seriously consider. Keith took him seriously.

Was it because they were both not completely human? Was that why he decided he could trust Lance?

Keith shrugged. “I’m not Shiro. But you know... I think together, we can be.” He looked behind him, towards the hallway.

Lance could see the thought crossing his face, and before he could stop himself, he stepped forward, hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Hey. He’s going to be so proud of you when he’s back to normal.”

”Heh.” Keith smiled a bit. “You too.” He took a deep breath as Lance dropped his hand, looking at Allura. “We need to talk about that,” he said, looking between the two of them. “And what happened with the Galra. Shiro was bait, to get us into position.”

”Yes,” Allura mused. “And I assume he was also to throw us into chaos while the Galra attacked, so we would not be organized enough to mount a defense.”

Lance nodded. “If we’re too busy making sure Shiro’s not hurting anyone, we’re too busy to get to our Lions. Perfect time for someone to come- holy shit. His arm.”

Keith frowned at him, not following. “What-”

”Do you think it has a tracker in it? That the Galra know where we jumped to?”

Allura and Keith looked at each other. Keith nodded, going over to the intercom system and motioning to it. “Allura?” When she poked the appropriate displays, Keith cleared his throat. “Hey, Pidge? Is there anything weird on Shiro’s arm?”

”What do you mean?” came Pidge’s tinny voice. “Also, holy shit, was that a jump we just did?”

”Any kind of trackers?”

”Haven’t found any, but I’ll be on the lookout. Everything okay?”

”We need to be careful,” Keith warned her. “We may have visitors coming after us.”

There was a moment of silence before Pidge said, “Gotcha. I’ll keep an eye out for anything like that and get rid of it when I see it. I’ll have Coran do a full body scan too to see if there’s one lodged anywhere in his body.”

”Cool, thanks Pidge.” Keith pressed a button, sighing. “Did it end?”

”Yes, you pushed the right button.”

Keith nodded, pushing his hair away from his face. “Okay. So. We have Shiro, who is brainwashed to kill us right now. The Galra, who were waiting for us and might be after us still. And we’re still working on getting Shiro back and seeing if the Galra really are tracking us through him.” He let out a long breath.

Allura nodded, sharply. “Yes. We cannot let our guard down.”

”I got it.” Keith let his hands drop. “We’re going to have to be on the same alert we were on when Zarkon was tracking us,” he told them. “Until we know for certain we’re not being tracked and that Shiro is Shiro again, we have to be on alert.”

”Yeah, I got it,” Lance told him.

It was going to suck, but he got it.

  


* * *

  


He didn’t know how to leader. Why did Keith consider him a second-in-command? He wasn’t a leader. What the hell? Lance swallowed hard as he came closer to Pidge, forcing a smile. “Yo. You wanted to see me?”

”Yeah.” Pidge pointed to a spot on her screen, a readout of Shiro’s body. “Coran found what looks like a tracker right here, in his left thigh. Problem is, we need to get him out of there to get it out of _him._ ”

Oh crap, he’d have to make a decision. Give Pidge some direction. He didn’t know how to leader! But... Lance looked over at Shiro. They were going to need Shiro back. Which meant they would have to take risks. “How’s the arm looking?” he asked first, looking back at her.

”Won’t know until he wakes up,” she said promptly. “I think I got it, but I’m not completely sure. The data wasn’t anything I’d ever seen before.”

Lance took a deep breath. Okay. So. Maybe Shiro wouldn’t be evil if they took him out. He opened his mouth to give the okay when alarms blared again - had the Galra caught up with them again? Lance ran for the intercom, pressing the button. “Keith,” he barked out, eyes narrowing.

”How’s Shiro?” was his first words.

”Pidge says she found what she was looking for and we’re going to need Shiro out of the pod to get to the tracker,” he said. “We got company?”

”Yes. Get suited up. We’ll worry about getting the tracker out of Shiro later. Coran will get him out of there. Just get out there and fight. We’ll form Voltron once Shiro’s out there.”

Lance nodded. “Roger.” He turned to Pidge. “Let’s go.”

It was time to kick some Galra ass the way they were supposed to.


	18. Chapter 18

Lance rolled out of the way of fire, gritting his teeth. This was not fun. They were getting murdered out here! “Pidge!”

”On it.” Lance couldn’t even appreciate Pidge taking down a fighter as he had to turn Blue around, blasting another coming after Keith. Damn it. They needed Shiro! How long was this going to take? “There’s no end to them!” he heard Pidge say, her voice distressed. “We need Shiro.”

”Just keep going,” Keith instructed. “We just need to hold out a little longer.”

Lance wanted to whine at him, but he was right. And... the rest of the team needed the moral too. “Yeah. We can do this. Just keep going, guys.” This wasn’t the time and place to whine at Keith. Hunk and Pidge needed support from them.

”Okay, but, like-” Hunk’s voice broke off as Yellow dodged. “Whoa!”

Keith was on it instantly, blasting two fighters. “Coran, how’s Shiro looking?”

”Mm?” That was Shiro’s voice. Lance’s heart rose in hope.

”It will be just a little longer!” Damn it. “He’s still getting his bearings.”

”Mm?” Yeah, Shiro sounded confused. Lance grit his teeth as he dodged, shooting another fighter down. They needed Shiro out there and having him be confused wasn’t good.

Lance reached out, opening a private channel between him and Keith and muted the open channel. “Yo,” he said quietly.

”Kind of focused here, Lance.”

”If we can’t get Shiro’s head back in the game fast enough, we might have to retreat.”

Silence. Lance could see the Red Lion dodging, firing, and then he had to focus on his own attacks before he heard Keith’s voice again. “We’re not retreating,” Keith growled. “Shiro’s out and he’s back to normal. We can hold out until he’s okay to fly again.”

”That might not be this time,” Lance pointed out. “We might have to retreat so we can give Shiro enough time to get back to normal.”

”We are _not_ retreating,” Keith repeated, the growl deeper. Lance had a distinct feeling if he was in Red, he would have seen Keith turn a slight purple. “Shiro will be out here any moment now.”

Lance sighed. “Just keep it in mind, dude.”

Another growl before Keith closed his end of the channel. Lance did the same, unmuting the open channel. They just had to make it until Shiro could fly again. Until they could form Voltron. They had to do this.

They could do this.

Lance watched as Yellow was hit, gritting his teeth as he covered Hunk’s back, shooting down the fighter that got Yellow. “C’mon Shiro,” he muttered. “You can do it. Just get in Black...”

But he wasn’t getting in his Lion. And there were more and more fighters coming.

Lance took a deep breath.

Damn it. He didn’t want to say this because he knew Keith would override him. But right now, he wanted everyone to _live_ and the fucking Galra in Keith wouldn’t let him leave the goddamn fight! “Guys-”

”Hey.” Shiro’s voice made Lance jump, heart in his throat. He turned Blue to see Black coming up. It was... it was Shiro. And Black. And- and-

”Everyone.” Keith voice came over the com link, serious. “Form Voltron.”

There were noises of agreement from Pidge and Hunk, and then- “Yes.”

From Shiro.

  


* * *

  


Shiro collapsed as soon as he exited his Lion. Good thing was Lance was right there, ready to grab him. And wow, it had never been more obvious to him that his strength was... slightly more than normal humans when he held up Shiro with little effort, arm over his shoulder. It wasn’t no effort - Shiro still was kind of heavy - but he knew he could get Shiro to his bed without help.

But he still appreciated it when Keith came beside him, looping Shiro’s other arm across his shoulders and helping hold him up. “We’ll take him back to the med bay,” Keith told him. “We need to get that tracker out of him, for one.”

Lance nodded, and the two of them made the way down to the med bay. “Hey,” Lance said, then bit his lip, thinking. “I mean, about what I said-”

”You were thinking of the group. Which is why you’re my second-in-command. I wouldn’t have made the decision to retreat when it was needed. We were lucky Shiro came when he did.”

Wow, Keith sounded like he was really angry at himself. “Hey-”

”I would have gotten us all killed,” Keith spat out. “I would have-”

”You would have done what was right eventually,” Lance told him. “You wouldn’t-”

Keith snorted. “All of our fights we had before then we won easily. I didn’t have to even consider if we had to retreat. It was obvious: we were going to win. And that was exactly what I thought was going to happen here. We were going to win. We’ve won everything else. And then- That would have gotten us all killed if Shiro hadn’t gotten out there.” He sighed. “Look, if you see that again-”

”I won’t have to do anything because Shiro’s here and he’ll make the decision.”

He could feel Keith holding Shiro a little tighter. “Yeah. You’re right.”

When they made it to the med bay, they put Shiro down on a table, stepping back to let Coran work. “We should get cleaned off,” Lance told Keith. “We’re not going to be needed for this.” He patted Keith’s shoulder. “Come on.”

”I... want to stay,” Keith said quietly. “So I’m here when he wakes up again.”

”I will let you know when he wakes again,” Coran told him. “Now shoo! I must have silence while I dig around for this contraption.”

Lance shrugged. “You heard the man. And Hunk’s probably baking nervously again, so why don’t you go down to the kitchen after you shower? His muffins are the best.”

Keith opened his mouth, ready to snap at him, only to shake his head and close his mouth. “You really put the needs of the rest of us over yourself,” he murmured, then, louder, “Okay. Only if you do the same.”

”Is this a direct order from my leader?”

”Yes. This overrides any other order you’ve heard.”

Lance grinned, watching Keith’s lips twitch as he suppressed his own smile. “Well, I guess if my leader is saying so, I should do it.” He saluted and turned to go to his room, ready to shower.

He knew Keith would stay there for as long as Coran would let him. That probably meant not much longer. And then he’d do what Lance said.

It didn’t... feel powerful, knowing Keith would do what he said. Just... good. That Keith would go take care of himself because he really needed to. They all did. And if it took Lance bugging them into doing it, then he would do it.

He had to be good at something, so if it was that... so be it.


	19. Chapter 19

Shiro found him in the middle of strength training. Allura looked up as he walked up, her face brightening as Lance sat up. “Shiro. Are you feeling better?” she asked.

”I suppose as well as I can.” Shiro laughed, still sounding exhausted. “The tracker’s out, and Pidge says I should be back to normal. I need to talk to Lance.”

Great.

Lance straightened his back. “Yo. What’s up?”

”It’s nothing bad. It’s just about, well... I remember that you got me out of that cell.” Shiro frowned. “That was a Galra door. I don’t remember Keith there as well-”

”O-oh.” Lance bit his lip and looked at Allura. “Hey, can I talk to Shiro alone? I- I think he needs to hear this like... from me. Alone.”

”Lance, this is-”

He looked at her, and shook his head. “Shiro needs to know, and... well, I need to tell him. We can continue training later, right?”

Allura sighed. “That was not where I was going with this.”

Shiro placed a hand on Allura’s shoulder. “Allura.”

She looked over at him, then at Lance. “We will continue training later,” she conceded before leaving.

As she left, Shiro turned to him, tired eyes curious. “So what’s this thing you needed to talk to me alone about?” he asked. “And what does it have to do with how you got me out?”

Lance swallowed. “It’s that... well...” Fuck, this wasn’t easy. He knew Shiro would support him, but the words still weren’t _easy_ to say. “I’m not... human. Completely human.”

”Oh.” Shiro blinked a few times. “Are you- also Galra, like Keith?”

There was no condemnation in his voice, only confusion and support. Lance shook his head, swallowing. “N-no... like... Altean.” The words came out quietly, forced out. “Someone in my family way, way back was an Altean.”

”Oh.” The word was surprised, but still supportive. “Lance-”

”That- that’s how I got you out,” he continued on, interrupting him. “I shapeshifted my hand to a Galra one. I mean, as long as I could. Can’t- I can’t do it for long. Allura’s teaching me, but I can’t shapeshift for very long.”

To his surprise, Shiro chuckled. “I had wondered if you flinging me across the room had been a dream,” he told him. “It was Altean strength?”

He could laugh about that? “Y-yeah. I mean, Allura’s trying to teach me how to use it all the time but- I mean it seems like it happened because I was really worried about you, um... trying to kill Keith.” Lance took a deep breath. That was probably the wrong thing to say. “I mean-” Lance looked at him, trying to see how Shiro was taking this. “You were hurting Keith, and I wanted to stop that.”

”Kind of how mothers can tap into intense strength to save their child?” Shiro asked.

Lance shrugged.

”You and Keith have really started to get along, haven’t you?”

He shrugged again. “We... I mean, when I started figuring out I was Altean, it just kind of... made sense to talk to Keith because he also had to deal with the whole ‘I’m not completely human’ thing. And then we just kind of... I guess started co-leading? I don’t even know when that happened.”

Shiro raised an eyebrow. “Co-leading?”

”Yeah.” Lance rubbed the back of his neck. “You’d have to talk to Keith about that. I don’t- Keith was leading us. And then I guess he decided I was his second-in-command. I don’t know what happened. But I just... I mean, I just want everything to go okay, and for everyone to be okay, so if that means that I lead, then-”

”Lance.” He looked up at Shiro, seeing the tired smile on his face. “From what Keith has told me and what I can tell, you and Keith have done a great job. It’s good you two are getting along so well. Especially since... I’m not sure I can lead Voltron in my state.”

Oh. Lance swallowed. “Shiro-”

”Heh.” Shiro shook his head. “I can still fly the Black Lion and fight with everyone. But... my mind isn’t back to where it should be. I didn’t even think about forming Voltron when I got out there. I don’t feel like I can lead Voltron like this.” Shiro rubbed his face. “I’ve been meaning to tell Keith, but- he’s just so happy that I’m back.”

Lance reached out, taking his shoulder. “We can tell him together, you know.” He’d rather have Shiro back as the leader, but... he wanted what was best for Shiro, and if that meant that he stepped down because he felt he couldn’t lead...

Shiro smiled at him, the curve of his lips sad. “I’m sorry. I know you wanted me to take back the leadership-”

”Hey. You know, whatever’s best for you. I’d rather you be okay first.”

Shiro let out a long breath, nodding. “Yes.” He smiled at Lance. “Thank you. I hope I can lead you guys again soon and take that burden off of you.”

Lance smiled back at him. “Hey. You’re back. That’s all we need for right now.” He’d learn how to leader. Right now, though... Shiro looked exhausted. “Why don’t you go back to bed, man? You look tired.”

”I’ve been sleeping too much,” Shiro admitted. “I’d rather be awake. And I still need to tell Keith. Don’t worry, Lance. I’ll go tell him myself. And... about the Altean thing...” Lance held his breath. He knew he didn’t have to worry, but it still- “You know it doesn’t change anything about what I think about you, right? You’re still a valuable member of the team.”

Something relaxed inside of him. Why had he even worried that Shiro would reject him over being Altean? “Yeah.”

Shiro smiled, clasping his shoulder briefly before leaving.

And Lance let out a long breath.

He was going to be a leader for a little bit longer. Him and Keith.

... he could do it.

Lance looked at one hand. If he could be a Cuban Altean, he could be a co-leader of Voltron for a little longer. He could do this.

Yeah.

Lance nodded.

He could do this.

With that thought, he went to find Allura again, ready to continue his training. If he was going to be co-leader, he had to be the best he could, right?

The Galra wouldn’t know what hit them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!
> 
> Thank you all so much for your support. I am so touched! You all have been amazing, and I am so happy you have enjoyed this.
> 
> All the love and thanks to infiniterhapsody! She helped me plan this, and it wouldn't have been nearly as good as it is without her.
> 
> The next part of Shattered will come soon! I am aiming for Monday but if I'm not too busy tomorrow, it will be up tomorrow! And boy will there be a few surprises waiting in this part...


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